


The Bitter End

by Tarkleigh



Category: Sons of Anarchy
Genre: Alternate Universe, Canon Rewrite, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-30
Updated: 2016-09-27
Packaged: 2018-05-04 04:43:27
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 11
Words: 85,607
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5320901
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tarkleigh/pseuds/Tarkleigh
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>[Season seven rewrite] After the events of season six Jax struggles to find the truth and get his revenge. But he is not the only one hatching plans in Charming and soon it is every man for himself</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Grief

**Author's Note:**

> I finally got around to my big season seven rewrite. Pairings are still in flux at the moment, I can imagine a couple both straight and gay. Maybe I will even keep it gen for a change. Enjoy and feedback is always welcome.

Jax was dimly aware that now other people were into the room but he did not acknowledge them. He clutched Tara tighter as if holding her close would somehow breathe the life back to her and sobbed inconsolably. His world had been shattered and his mind was still reeling from the shock. He could not understand how this had happened. Tara had been safe. He had made the deal for her. Why was she dead? Who had killed her? The Mayans? The Chinese? The Irish? Had maybe somebody in club tried to protect him from himself? Or had he finally snapped and killed her? God know he had been close to it. Jax couldn’t remember doing anything like that but he found it hard to trust his mind at the moment. He had no answers. All he had was the overwhelming feeling that his life was over. The people he loved more than anything else were dead and he was still here holding their corpses. Losing Opie had nearly broken him and he just couldn’t do something like that again. Losing Tara as well had shattered him into a million pieces which were each drowning in sorrow.

He became vaguely aware of somebody touching his arm and thought somebody was saying something to him. He raised his head, expecting to see Chibs or somebody else from the club – even Juice – only to see Patterson. What was she doing here?

"Mr Teller," Patterson said, looking as spooked as he felt, "what happened here?"

Jax could only shake his head, trying and failing to stop crying.

*   *   *   *   *

A few hours later, Tyne Patterson was sitting in her office, trying to wrap her head around what had happened. It had been a crazy day. Teller offering to turn himself in had been surprising enough and now everything had been turned upside down again. So far, she only know one thing for certain: Dr. Knowles was dead and this death had hit Patterson much harder than she would had expected. She had felt for Tara, even if she had just been a tool to strike at the Sons at first. Patterson had really thought that things would work out well for Tara especially after her husband’s change of heart. The DA still had trouble believing it. She had expected Tara to turn up dead when she had fled – if they had found the body at all – not Teller offering to go to prison for her. Patterson knew that a lot of husbands could forgive their wives almost everything but Teller had not struck her as the forgiving type.

Anyway, at the time she had been willing to cast her suspicions aside and take what was being offered. Leaving the Sons themselves intact was a bitter pill to swallow but nailing their leader would at least be some victory. Teller might not make the best scapegoat – he was too handsome and charming for that – but given all the hot water she had been in since the school shooting she had to be grateful for any kind of justice she could get. For a few hours it had seemed like everyone got what he wanted – with the possible exception of Jax Teller. But now Tara was dead and everything had changed. Her husband was under arrest for the time being for possible parole violations – he might have fired the gun they had found – and as suspect for her murder. But Patterson was not sure if she really believed in that theory. Teller had been a mess when they had found him, besides himself in a way she would have never expected from the usually so glib MC president. He seemed genuinely devastated by Tara’s death and murderers usually weren’t broken up about getting the job done.

It was possible of course that the murder had been spontaneous. Maybe the two had argued in the last minute, things had gotten out of hand and Teller had killed his wife in a rage only to be consumed with remorse a second later. Possible but unlikely in her book. For one thing, Tara had to be extremal stupid to argue with a violent husband which would be out of her life in a few hours and she did not peg Teller to be sloppy enough to stay around afterwards. She guessed she would know more once the forensic evidence had been processed. The strange thing was that they hadn't found the murder weapon. They had secured Tellers pistol but it didn't look like Tara had been shot. Had he beat her to death? Or had somebody cleaned up after the murder. If yes, who? Nobody from the club probably, otherwise Teller would have fled.

Patterson sighed. She had a million questions and no answers in sight. What she did know was that this would be a major shit storm. She had walked on thin ice ever since the school shooting and the death of Tara Knowles would make headlines left and right. Once people started digging and found that she had offered Tara protection and a deal, Patterson would look completely incompetent. Unless a miracle happened she would not be District Attorney same time next year. The trouble with Eli Roosevelt wouldn’t help either, though there was a silver lining there.

The door opened and one of the local cops came in. "Ma'am. We have Teller ready for you. He was waiting for you in the interrogation room."

"Thank you," she said. She took a deep breath. Okay, let's see what they had.

*   *   *   *   *

Jax barely realized what was happening in the hours following Tara’s death. Eventually he stopped crying and withdrew completely inside himself, ignoring everything around him. They took him away from Tara – he struggled but only half-heartedly – and he spent the next few hours in a cell somewhere in the Sherriff’s station. This should have upset him but he couldn’t feel anything but deepest sorrow. Eventually they put him into an interrogation room. He waited for some time – Jax honestly couldn’t say how long it was – until Patterson entered. Jax glanced at her for a moment before looking down again. He really didn’t care what she had to say. The gnawing ache in his heart blocked out all other input.

She sat down. "Let me say first that you have my deepest condolences, Mr. Teller."

"Thank you," he said tonelessly, figuring it would be over quicker if he didn’t ignore her.

She waited for him to say more but he didn’t so she broke the silence instead. "What happened back there? Who killed Tara?"

This broke through the numbness – a bit at least. He shook his head. "I don't know, I really don't know. She was there when I came home, dead. Roosevelt too."

"Ah, Eli is not dead," Patterson said.

Jax looked up in surprise. "He isn't?"

"He is in Saint Thomas in critical condition. He is not out of the woods that but the doctors are doing everything they can."

"That's good," Jax said, only partly because this was she expected him to say. Despite their rocky start, he had liked Eli well enough. He didn’t deserve an end like that.

"Nobody is more relieved than I am," Patterson said. "Roosevelt is a good man and he might be able to tell us what happened once he wakes up."

"If he wakes up," Jax corrected, speaking more to himself than to her.

"I try being an optimist, Mr. Teller. For now, why don't you answer my questions so we can shed some light on this horrible tragedy?"

"Okay."

"Did you kill Tara?" she asked, dropping the bomb on him.

At once, the numbness and grief were pushed back into his mind. Fury took their place, hot and unexpected. How could she even ask him that? He wanted to hit her but kept wisely still. "Of course not," he said through clenched teeth. "I loved her."

"Maybe, but she was willing to make a deal that could have sent you and your club behind bars for decades and was trying to keep your children from you. That sounds like motif to me."

"Do you forget that I gave myself up for her? Why the hell should I do that if I wanted to kill her anyway?"

"I don't know," Patterson admitted. "To disperse any suspicion? Maybe you had all this planned out from the start. You made the deal with me and Tara to keep her from running and keep me off your club. Than you let one of your goons take her out and play the grieving husband so we don't start to dig into your club."

Jax bristled at the accusation though a part of his mind knew that the plan wasn’t bad if slightly overcomplicated. "If you knew me at all, you would know that I could never do something like that to her. And why would I even go through all the trouble when I could have killed her on the run?"

"If she had disappeared you would have been our first suspect, and I wouldn't have stopped until I had you behind bars for that."

This was the last push Jax needed to get out of his shock – at least for the time being. He could grieve later, now he had to handle this before Patterson threw him into prison for something he didn’t do. He focused and gave her his best unconcerned grin. She was reaching and he knew it. "Unlike now where nobody suspects me at all. But these threats would have more weight, if you wouldn’t be out of your job in a few months."

"More than enough time to get everyone involved in this," Patterson said but Jax knew a bluff when he saw one.

"Then I wish you the best of luck," he said. "Can I go now? I have to tell my kids that their mom is dead."

The grab for her sympathy was unusually blunt and fell flat. "I am afraid you will have to stay for a while longer. At the moment you are our prime suspect and should I release you, you would have all the connections to fade out of sight. Besides, the gun was a possible parole violation."

"I didn't fire it. Having it wasn't a violation."

"Forensic will tell us that. And they might give us a hint on who killed Tara as well."

"So you really think I killed her? You think I am such a monster?" Jax asked both because he wanted to get some hint on how serious his situation was and because he really found the thought hard to bear.

Patterson kept her face carefully neutral. "Time will tell. I can only promise you that whoever was responsible will pay for it. I will make sure of that."

That made two of them.

*   *   *   *   *

Chibs hated the new Chapel. Truth be told, he hated almost everything about the new clubhouse. The fact that it was in an old ice cream shop was ridiculous. Jackie might find some irony in there but Chibs just found it unworthy of SAMCRO’s rich history. They really should have the old clubhouse rebuild as soon as possible and get SAMCRO back where it should be. It should be Bobby’s first decision as president. Bobby as president! That would take some getting used to. Was Jax already on his way to prison? Or had they given him some more time with Tara? Chibs amused himself with the thought of that uptight bitch Patterson barging in to Jax fucking Tara through the mattress. It would be sight to behold.

"Are you alright?" Bobby asked him.

Chibs sighed and turned to his new boss. Other people might be offended by Jax handing the gavel to a regular member rather than his VP but Chibs was glad this burden had passed him by. He had always seen himself as a soldier rather than a leader and didn’t know if he would be a good fit. He guesses Jackie had never had this problem after practically being raised as prince of SAMCRO. "Just trying to wrap my head around everything."

"I get that," Bobby said. "Hard to believe Jax is just gone like that."

"Aye, never thought it would end like that. The boy giving himself up for love. Not the end you’d suspect for a SAMCRO president."

"He really must love her. I couldn't imagine doing something like that for Precious."

Chibs could imagine a lot of things he would do for Fiona. Maybe even something as stupid as that. But in the end it did not matter what they thought. Jax had made his decision and they would have to live with the consequences. "We have to think about our next moves. I would like to rebuild the old clubhouse. Get us out of this ridiculous location."

Bobby nodded. "I miss it too. Not sure where will get the money though, now that the guns are gone."

"We will have to figure something out. Maybe more porn."

The new president hesitated. His face was unusually serious. "We should talk about Juice."

"What about him?" Chibs asked. "You heard Jax, he’s out."

Bobby looked at him indignantly. "Am I the only one here who has a problem with cutting Juice out? We have known the guy for years, he has been with us through so many shit and now you and Jax just want to take him out? I thought you liked Juice."

"I do," Chibs said, "but that doesn’t excuse what he has done. Just think of what Juice did to Miles."

"Oh, you mean the thing you and Jax knew about for months and didn't do anything about?" Bobby asked.

Chibs raised an eyebrow. "This was Jackie’s call. I wanted to kick Juice out for it but he gave him a pass. Probably to use him against Clay."

"So why does Jax suddenly want to feed Juice to the wolves? Has he even done something or has he just outlived his usefulness?"

"I don't know, brother. This is something only Jax and Juice know. It does not change anything, anyway. Juice’s sins are grave enough already."

"So what exactly do you want to do with him, Chibs?" Bobby asked. "Excommunicate him? Call in a mayhem vote?"

Chibs thought long and hard about his answer. "I don't want to see him dead but I think he has to leave this club. He is too much of a risk for us to keep around. And the club deserves to know the truth about him. If they want a mayhem vote then instead of a simple excommunication, I will not oppose it."

"Jesus Christ," Bobby said. "Do you get what you are saying here? The vote will pass, Chibs. The club won't have another choice once they know the truth. And then we have to kill another brother. It was hard enough with Clay. I don't think I can do this again with Juice."

"Juice is no better than Clay was. Both have killed a brother, both deserve what is coming to him."

"Clay killed Piney for power. Juice panicked with Miles while being jerked around by Roosevelt. It's not the same thing."

"The result is the same," Chibs said, "and the punishment should be the same as well."

"Are you really telling me that you wouldn't mind seeing Juice killed? Maybe even doing it yourself? Because I wouldn't want to leave Juice to Happy."

"If it comes to it, I will pull the trigger," Chibs said, hoping he wasn’t fooling himself. "But the club can't take any more secrets, Bobby. Jackie was almost as bad as Clay was when it came to keeping things to himself."

"Maybe but I don't think the club can handle this truth. If we come clean, we also admit that Jax knew all about it and used it to make Juice his bitch. Do you really think the club will be pleased to hear that?"

"No but Jax is gone. It would make clear that things are different now."

Bobby sighed. "Okay let’s keep this possibility in mind but we really should talk to Juice first. Hear his side of the story. Maybe we can find another way."

Chibs highly doubted that there was a possible compromise here but he said nothing. He could understand Bobby being hesitant about this. It wasn’t easy for Chibs either but he just knew it had to be done. "I wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't came back. I think something went down between Jackie and him when they said goodbye."

"That might be the best for everyone involved."

Aye, Chibs thought, it might.

*   *   *   *   *

It had been hours but Juice's hands still shook from time to time. He had calmed down somewhat by now but he knew that the panic was still lurking just beneath the surface could break out again any moment. He had gotten used to things going seriously wrong over the years with the club but today had been a whole new level of bad shit happening. It had started with Jax almost casually dashing Juice’s hope of ever really getting back in the club. Juice remembered him saying good-bye – he had meant what he had said, he would miss Jax despite everything that had happened between them – and Jax hugging him and kissing his ear. The Puerto Rican had always craved tenderness like that and the small gesture had meant more to him than he liked to admit. But then Jax had turned his world upside down with just three little words: "You betrayed me."

That was it. No further explanation of what he meant and what would happen now. He had just left Juice and gone back to his kids. The Puerto Rican had been too stunned to do anything. It probably would have been smart at this point to cut his losses and get the hell out of Charming while he still had his life but Juice hadn't. Maybe he just hadn’t known what to do or he still had hoped that things would work out in the end given that Jax was stepping down as president, to this moment Juice couldn’t say what exactly had made him follow his last order rather than fleeing. Ironically, things had worked out on this front, he had found Gemma just fine – though too late to save Tara.

Shit, Tara. It was hard to believe she was dead. Juice and she might not be on the best of terms lately – he took her trying to run him over pretty personally – but he had liked her and thought she was a good fit for Jax. Maybe not the hottest girl Jax had ever bedded but certainly the best old lady of the bunch and a good friend of the club. She didn't deserve to go out like that, especially not after Jax had given up so much to save her. Did Jax know already? Or was he still saying his goodbyes, thinking that he was sacrificing himself so his wife could have a good life? He would be devastated when he found out and Juice didn't even want to imagine what he would do once he found out Gemma did it – and that Juice had helped cover it up.

He hadn’t really thought about it at the time. His instinct had been to protect the club, whatever it took. This was why he had taken out Eli – which had felt more satisfying than Juice liked to admit – and cleaned up after Gemma. In hindsight this was a pretty bad move. Jax would likely be pissed about Juice helping Gemma and not coming straight back to him with the info about Tara’s killer. But what the hell was he supposed to do? Let the cops arrest her? Than Jax could string him up for betraying the club. Either way he as in for a horrible death and the thought made the panic well up again.

Juice quickly took another sip of whiskey to calm himself. It was pretty good stuff. He never would have guessed Wendy had a taste for it but maybe her years with Jax had paid off. He wondered what she would think if she knew that Gemma had stashed Juice at her place. Pretty ironic given how much those two had butted heads over the years. Supposedly this was just a short stop-over until Gemma got him out of town – her idea not his – so maybe Juice should stay sharp but he just needed something to take the edge off. It was just too much at once. He had killed a cop, betrayed Jax and lost his place in the club – the only thing that mattered to him – for good this time. Drinking until he blacked out sounded like a pretty good idea right now. His world was quite fuzzy already which was good in Juice’s book. He didn’t want to see things too clearly at the moment.

Maybe the worst thing about the current situation was how unfair it was. He hadn’t meant to say anything to Nero, things had just slipped out while he had been high as a kite. And why did Jax give a shit anyway? Nero was nothing more than a washed-up pimp whose usefulness had ended when he had set them up with Diosa. Just because Gemma was suddenly into brown dick didn’t mean Jax had to play nice with the guy or care about his opinion. Juice had been with the club for years, Jax could give him some credit for that rather than trying to please an outsider. There were his other missteps, of course, but he had already paid his dues for those hadn’t he? So Jax really should have let this one slide.

The door opened and Juice went for the gun on the table in front of him immediately. Then he recognized Gemma and relaxed. He noticed she was carrying a bag. "Got you some supplies. Some cash too. Enough to get you out of state."

"Thanks," Juice said, sinking back onto the couch he sat on and taking another sip. He poured another noting that the bottle was much emptier than expected. He felt nothing but shock, though, no sign of the alcohol in his system.

"Are you alright?" Gemma asked, looking at him intensely.

Juice guessed she didn’t like what she saw. He was in his black undershirt and jeans, probably very drunk at this point and if he looked as miserable as he felt, it was a sight to behold. "What do you think?"

"What’s this?" she asked, pointing to the pill bottle next to him. "Oxy?" 

Juice shook his head. "Some benzos, I took a few to calm me down. Worked pretty well. I would take more but then I would go to sleep."

"And you combine that with booze?" Gemma asked. "Are you out of your mind?"

"Ah, I should be fine – I guess. And I needed it to take the edge off."

"Jesus Christ, Juice. You’re supposed to get out of town, not get high."

"Maybe but it is the only way I can take this. Not like it matters anyway. My life is over, not much I can do about it"

"Don't talk like that. It’s not that bad"

Juice laughed at that. "Really Gemma? Jax just kicked me out of the club for something I didn't even mean to do. Which would be enough to get me brutally murdered by the way. But then I managed to make it worse by killing a cop and protecting the woman who killed his wife. What do you think Jax wil do when he finds out?"

"Which is why he can never know," Gemma said. "The truth would shatter him."

Juice guessed she had a point there but keeping something huge like this secret felt wrong to him. He took another drink and shook his head. "You shouldn’t have done it, Gem. You shouldn't have killed Tara. Jax will never forgive us. Not after he gave up everything to protect here."

"I didn’t know what Jax did. I thought Tara had ratted and was just protecting Jax and the club. It was a horrible mistake but there is nothing I can do now except trying to minimize the damage. Part of that is that Jax can never know the truth."

"And what is he supposed to think? Somebody killed Tara, he will never stop until he has found her killer."

"Which is why we have to give him someone. Think, Juice, does anyone have enough beef with the club to strike against Tara."

"The Mayans or the Chinese, I guess, we could...no that's insane. If we do this, Jax will start a war with whoever we blame and then who knows who could get hurt."

She scowled. "And what is your alternative, Juice? You said it yourself, Jax will never stop looking for Tara’s killer. And no matter how well we cleaned it up, we will never be safe until he stops looking. And I don't want to even imagine what not knowing would do to Jackson. He would probably start lashing out all by himself. We have to do this, Juice."

It was really tempting for Juice to just follow her lead and save himself but realized that he couldn't. It was too insane, too much could go wrong. He would never forgive himself for causing something like this. "No, we can't do that, Gem. It could get everybody killed."

"Well we have to do something. You got any idea?"

As a matter of fact, Juice had. The solution was suddenly clear to him and his new determination even cut through the drug haze. "Only one thing I can do. I have to talk to Jax. Explain everything."

"Are you out of your goddam mind? He will kill you, Juice."

Juice looked at her and smiled. "I don't really care at this point anymore. I juggled so many lies, betrayed so many people to save my sorry hide, I just can't do it anymore. It has to end, one way or the other. I think Jax will even forgive the other beef we had, if I explain what happened. I am not sure about my role in Tara's death. But I will not let the whole club suffer for my mistakes."

"And what about me, Juice?" Gemma asked, something that could be panic in her voice. "What will happen to me when you come clean of everything?"

"I'm sorry, Gemma, but I can't protect you from this. Might be best if you come clean first. The chances aren’t good but I think Jax can forgive you almost everything, maybe even this." He stood up. He half expected to fall back down again but his feet were surprisingly steady. "I should get back to the clubhouse. The sooner I come forward, the most likely it is I can stop them from doing something stupid." He went to the back of the apartment to get his shirt and his cut. If he was to die today, he wanted to die with SAMCRO’s symbols on his back. When he came back, Gemma looked as defeated as he had never seen her before. He guessed she was not used to losing control like that. Juice should probably get moving before his courage left again. But surprisingly he was no longer worried at all. Truth be told, he felt strangely out of touch with reality as though everything was happing to somebody else. Juice wasn’t sure whether this was a good sign or not.

"Never thought you would be so brave," Gemma said and Juice thought she even meant it. She pointed at his still full glass of whiskey. "Or is it the booze speaking? How many of these did you have?"

"Just enough," Juice said with a smile. Though he guessed one more couldn't hurt. He took the glass and emptied it in one go. He had the feeling that the booze tasted differently than before though it was hard to be sure. Maybe he was just getting drunker. He would have to be careful not to crash his bike on the way to the clubhouse. That would just be embarrassing.

"Is there really nothing I can do to talk you out of this horrible idea? You will only get both of us killed."

"Better us than all of SAMCRO and whoever gets caught in the..." Juice stopped, suddenly feeling dizzy. The world started to feel even more unreal than before. Juice felt his feet give way under him and fell on the couch behind him. Gemma stood from her chair and moved closer to him. "What...what's going on?"

"You shouldn't leave your drink unprotected," she said simply.

Juice's hand went to his gun but his movements were so slow and uncoordinated that Gemma could easily pluck it from his hand. "Sorry about that, Juice, but you really leave me no choice. I can’t risk you blabbing to Jax and running everything. I really hoped that you would be smart enough to run for it but it seems like you want to hard way out. Well, I can help with that, sweetheart."

"Don’t...don't do it," Juice stammered, feeling the world grow fuzzy around him.

"I have to. And don't worry, you won't feel a thing. You even gave me the perfect tool for it." She took the pill jar from the table. "Just some more downers and you will go right to sleep. My gift to you. Nothing personal, Juice. I really appreciate your help today but I can’t let you tear this family apart."

Juice wanted to do something but the pills kicked in in full now and he lost consciousness.


	2. Out

The next morning, Gemma took some extra time to make a proper breakfast for herself – only herself, she noted bitterly because the damn fool Nero had suddenly ditched her for no reason at all. She had a difficult day ahead of her. The news about Tara's death had broken now and everybody probably knew already. Gemma would come forward somewhere later this day, spreading the news about seeing a Chinese guy when she went back to Jax's house to say goodbye. Her cover story was that she had been upset and had needed some time for herself. When she had calmed down and driven back to Jax's house she had noticed a Chinese guy leaving. She had seen Tara’s car and decided not to go in because she did not want another fight. It had all seemed innocent until she had found out the terrible truth. It was a good cover, she thought. Simple, without too much involvement on her part that might seem suspicious and it should be enough to point Jax at the Chinese. They would deny everything, of course, but Jax would never believe them over the word of his mother, especially if there was existing beef. She could have picked the Mayans as well but this would likely bring trouble for Nero and she didn't want that. He might have dumped her but she wasn't that vindictive – well, at least not always.

Gemma knew she was on some level betraying Jax for burying the truth but she was convinced she was doing the right thing. What good would come out of the truth anyway? Jax would lose his mother as well as his wife and the boys would have no maternal figure at all to take care of them. No, this way was much better. Who cared if some chinks were getting killed for it? They probably would have gone to war with the club anyway, she was just the catalyst for whatever would happen. Besides, maybe Jax would settle for killing a couple of them. And even if he didn't it was much better than the alternative. Jax could handle a gang war but she highly doubted he could handle his mother killing his wife. A pity Juice hadn't understood that. She had forced a lot more pills and some whiskey down his throat before leaving him to expire. She could have suffocated him or something but she hadn't for two reasons: First, she wanted no sign of foul play. Jax might have not been on the best of terms with Juice but somebody killing one of his guys would get his attention and this was the last thing Gemma wanted. It had to look like a drug overdose or a suicide if she wanted to be safe. And the second reason was that she couldn't bare it. Taking Juice out had been awful enough at it was, she didn't want to make it even harder. She had heard no news of Juice’s death yet but she doubted the club was looking very hard to him at the moment. This was probably a good thing, the more time passed the safer she would be on that front.

Still, it was a horrible waste. She had liked Juice, always had. Something about his big eyes and general vulnerability brought out the mothering instinct in her. At least it wasn’t a mistake this time and Juice seemed to be looking for death anyways. Maybe he was at a better place now. In this moment she really wished she was stupid enough to believe in God.

*   *   *   *   *

Juice thought he was dreaming but it was hard to be sure. He got short flashes of images happening around him but most of the time he only saw blackness. Strangely this did not worry him. He felt sleepy and warm and had the feeling that somebody was holding him tight. He moved his head and saw Jax holding him, giving him a lazy smile. "Just go to sleep, Juice," he said before giving him a soft kiss to the forehead. Juice smiled back and thought this was good advice. He could feel that the rest of the club was close as well and he thought he could see Sack and Chibs out of the corner of his eyes. He tried to go to sleep again but something didn't feel right. Suddenly the warmth and contact was gone and Juice shivered in the empty cold. What was going on? Where was everybody? How had he lost the club? Then Jax spoke, his voice low and dangerous: "You betrayed me."

"Juice," someone else said. It was a kind voice, a woman's voice. "Juice, are you awake?"

With enormous effort Juice opened his eyes. He saw Wendy looking down at him with great concern. A few moments later he blacked out again.

This pattern kept repeating itself. Juice woke and got a few glimpses before falling back to disturbing dreams or vast blackness. He thought he Wendy was close but it was hard to say if he hadn't just imagined it. Eventually, he came to and managed not to lose consciousness immediately. He was lying on a bed in what he assumed to be a hospital. He saw Wendy quietly talking to someone, a doctor judging by his clothes. "Hey," Juice said.

Wendy turned her head and walked over to his bedside. "Hey. How are you feeling?"

"Groggy," Juice said carefully sitting up in bed. His head was pounding and his mouth was very dry. "What happened? Am I in St. Thomas?"

"St. Matthews in Lodi," Wendy said. "And I am not sure what happened. I found you in my apartment, passed out of the couch, barely breathing. I called an ambulance and you stopped breathing while we waited for it. They came just in time to save you."

Juice blinked at this. Nothing in this tale made sense to him. "I passed out? Why?"

"According to the doctors you had enough sleeping pills and booze in you to kill you two times over. What the hell have you been thinking? And what were you even doing in my apartment?"

"I...I don't remember."

"Oh, don't give me that bullshit. I know..."

"Maybe I should take it from here," the doctor said, moving closer to Juice. He was young, maybe in his thirties and looked kind enough. "I’m Doctor Hansen. I have to ask you some questions. Do you know your name?"

"Juice...err Juan Carlos Ortiz, I mean."

The doctor nodded. "And you do not remember what happened, Juan Carlos?"

"No," Juice said. "Last thing I remember is saying goodbye to a friend. It was afternoon, June 11th."

"Today is June 13th. You got here in the night between 11th and 12th. I think your girlfriend already told you what has happened – in laymen’s terms at least."

"She’s not my girlfriend," Juice said immediately.

"In any case it was a pretty close call but I don’t expect any lasting damage provided you get the proper care during the recovery."

"Why can’t I remember any of this?" Juice asked.

"Side effect of the overdose," Hansen said. "The Benzodiazepines you took are known to cause anterograde amnesia in high doses. Simply put, they prevent new memories to be formed which causes you to forget everything that happens to you while under their influence. We make use of this during surgery to let patients forget some of the more disturbing details."

Juice frowned. "I don't remember taking any benzos before the memory stops. Shouldn’t I remember what happened before I took the first dose?"

"In general yes, but retrograde amnesia can occur for a number of reasons, head injuries, long-term alcohol abuse or even stress. In your case, I would suspect it is a side effect of the alcohol benzo mix you overdosed on, maybe coupled with stress. How was your mental state in the last weeks?"

"Uh, things were pretty tense," Juice said which was the understatement of the century.

To his relief, Hansen just nodded. "Have you had trouble sleeping?"

Hell, yes. After Darvany his nightmares had picked up again, usually featuring her, Miles, Clay or a very pissed off Jax. "I guess, I have been really busy with work."

"You should try to get more rest, lack of sleep probably made the overdose worse." Hansen paused. "We also found traces of opiates in your blood."

"I...took a lot of oxy the day before the blackout," Juice said sheepishly.

Wendy looked shocked at this. Dr. Hansen kept his face carefully neutral but Juice could guess he was not be pleased. "I will have to put you on psyc-eval, it is possible that the overdose was a suicide attempt. Our resident psychiatrist will talk to you first thing in the morning. Your brain needs some time to relax after the shock it went through, so I wouldn't recommend any medication for depression for the time being."

"I am not depressed," Juice said, though he didn’t know if he believed it. "It had to be an accident:"

"One more reason to be more careful in the future," Hansen said and Juice was pretty sure he didn’t believe him. "Get some more rest, drink a lot of fluids and move around from time to time. The rest of the dizziness will pass soon."

"Will the memories come back?" Juice asked.

"Impossible to say but spontaneous recovery has been known to occur. I wouldn't worry about it too much, if I were you. You are only missing a day."

This didn’t put Juice’s mind at ease. He knew how much could happened in a day.

*   *   *   *   *

Jax spent his time in his cell in Stockton deep in thought, barely moving. He didn't have a cellmate for the time being and he was gratefully for that. He currently didn’t have the patience for the power games that usual erupted when you were shacked up with somebody not from the club. Now that he had nothing to keep him occupied, the grief had returned. He kept replaying all the good moments with Tara in his head, thinking about all he had lost now she was gone. Guilt raked him at these moments. Why hadn't he pushed her away when he had had the chance? Why had she stayed with him all this time? He had told her to take the kids and go to Oregon when he had taken over from Clay. If she had listened, she would be alive now, save with the kids. He probably would be out of her life by now but at least she would be okay. Why had he let this happen? Where had he gone wrong? Should he have tried harder? But what could he have done? Again and again, she had made the decision to stay close, despite his warnings. The thought that she had loved him enough to do that made Jax feel even worse.

For the first time in his life he just didn't know how to go one. Opie death had been devastating and losing Tara as well made him think he would drown in his grief. The world was an empty, bleak place to him, stripped of the people that had mattered most of him. There was the rest of the club and his children but that wasn't the same. He felt more alone than ever before in his life and doubted that the feeling would leave ever again. The mixture of guilt, loss and loneliness was overwhelming and Jax spent hours pondering them without getting anywhere. He didn't even know what he was looking for. At the moment he would settle for anything that would make him feel better.

He was so lost in thought that was very surprised when his cell door opened. "Up with you, Teller," a guard said. "You have a visitor."

Jax was puzzled by this. Was it Patterson? If yes, he was not in the mood for her games. But it was not like had any choice so he got up from his bunk and followed the guard. When he reached the visitation area Jax noticed it was not Patterson but Chibs waiting for him. He felt a pang of relief but it faded quickly. He moved closer and the Vice President embraced him. "Jackie. I am so sorry."

"Thanks," Jax said thickly. People giving him their condolences always made it worse for a moment even though he knew they meant well.

They sat at one of the tables. "I can’t believe they locked you up," Chibs said. "That bitch Patterson should know you would never do something like that."

"Can’t really blame her," Jax said. "We were pretty close when we thought Tara had turned on me. How is the club?"

"Pretty shaken but whole." Chibs hesitated. "Juice is gone. He never came back after you sent him to fined Gemma."

Jax felt nothing at the words. It was hard to believe that he had wanted Juice dead only a day ago. Now he didn’t care one way or the other. "Has my mom shown up again?"

"Aye. Apparently she just needed an evening for herself. Not sure what to make of it, but at least she didn’t come back with another spic pimp."

Jax forced a smile. Chibs visibly steeled himself before he continued. "She had some interesting news. Apparently she was at your house this evening and saw some shady-looking Chinese guy leaving the area. She didn't make anything of it at the time but when she mentioned it I couldn't help thinking..."

At once Jax felt completely awake for the first time in over a day. A sudden determination spread through him and banished the daze. "You think Lin was behind this?"

Chibs shrugged. "Possible at least. He had a lot of beef with us in the last weeks. Maybe things weren’t as settled on this front as we thought. Though we might want to double-check before we do anything."

"Find out more but wait with the retaliation until I am out", Jax said, feeling finally in control again. "Once we have the killer, I want to handle him personally."

*   *   *   *   *

Jax hardly slept the next night, his mind spinning with possibilities. Was Lin really behind Tara's murder? If he was, why had he done it? Maybe Chibs was right and the Chinese crime lord was still pissed about not getting the gun business SAMCRO had given up. Things had looked okay at this front but maybe Lin had just bided his time. But why had Lin attacked Tara? Had it been a deliberate move to hurt Jax or had the hit been meant for him and Tara been at the wrong place at the wrong time? The thought was hard to bear. Having Tara killed by some tragic twist of fate would be even worse than her being killed by a calculating mob boss. Jax stopped himself there. He had no time for that now. He had to figure out he could expose Lin’s involvement and what he would do once he had confirmation. Blood would be spilled, he knew that at least. He had avenged Opie and this had been the only thing that had kept him going during this hellish time. Maybe avenging Tara would do the same thing. And he owed it to her, no matter how costly it would be. A part of him wondered if Tara would try to stop him if she could but he pushed the thought aside. He could not afford doubt now.

When the guards raised him the next morning, Jax wasn't sure he had slept at all but felt a feverish energy that made it hard to sit still. He needed to get out of here. He needed to get busy and handle Lin. After breakfast – which he had spent wondering how he could get out of here as fast as he could – a guard brought him to another visitation room where Tyne Patterson was waiting for him. Jax wasn't certain if her showing up was a good sign but he felt much more prepared to handle the DA than he had two days ago. The guards made him sit down and then left the room. "Mr. Teller," Patterson said. "You look much better than the last time we spoke."

"Orange always was my color," Jax replied. "But I am sure you did not come all this way just to check on me."

"Indeed I have not. I have news regarding your wife's death. I pulled some strings to get the evidence processed as fast as possible and we have some preliminary results. It seems like the gun was not fired, just like you said. As far was your wife is concerned, we still have not finished the autopsy completely but it seems like she was stabbed in the head and drowned."

Jax felt his heart clench at the thought. He would skin Lin alive for that. "And you still think I did it?"

"Well, we have not found the murder weapon yet and currently I do not see any non-circumstantial evidence that points in your direction. I have to consider the possibility that you killed her, got rid of the murder weapon and then came back to play the grieving husband for me but this seems unlikely. For the time being, the evidence points to you being innocent."

"I see," Jax said. He noticed Patterson looking at him expectantly and a thought came to him. "I hope you don’t expect me honor our deal now that Tara is gone."

"I don’t even if it would still be the right thing to do. It would stop these guns from doing any more harm."

"I held my word. We are out of the guns business. You have no more reason to hound me or my club."

"Except the mysterious death of your wife and the attempted murder of a police officer. But I am not unreasonable, Mr. Teller. Given that you apparently did not commit any parole violations and that I have no evidence that cannot be explain with you finding the body, I am inclined to set you free. However, I need a gesture of good faith from you. Tell me what happened this night so I have something to start with."

Jax wondered if she was playing some game here. It did not seem like her to let him off the hook that easily. But maybe he was just lucky for a change. And if it got him out of here, he would gladly tell her everything he knew – or at least almost everything. "I spent almost all day at the ice cream shop, saying goodbye to the club and playing with my kids. When the time came, I went home to wait for you and to see my wife one last time. When I entered, the house was strangely quiet which made me draw my gun. I searched for Tara and found her lying in the kitchen, Eli at her side. They were both dead – at least this was what I thought at the time. When I saw her like that, I completely lost it. I dropped my gun and went over to hold her. The next thing I remember clearly is you finding me."

"That must have been horrible for you, Mr. Teller. Again you have my sympathies."

"Thanks," Jax said though he wasn’t quite sure if she war serious or not. "I hope that helps convincing you that I had nothing to do with the murder. Once you have a time of death you can ask the guys. They will all tell you that I was at the shop when Tara died."

"Well, the word of a handful of convicted felons will not carry much in court but I appreciate the suggestion." She leaned forward. "Let’s say I believe you. Who did kill Tara then? Surely, it was not one of her doctor buddies harboring a grudge. It has to have something to do with your club. It doesn't even have to be on purpose, sometimes bystanders get hurt. Do you know of anyone who might do something like that?"

Jax shook his head. "No, after I moved us out of guns, all outstanding debts were supposed to be settled. Otherwise I would have never let Tara out of my sight."

"I see," Patterson said and Jax could tell she was frustrated. That case must be hard on her as well. Not that it made any damn difference to him.

"Sorry, I couldn't be of more help. The only thing that comes to my mind is the ATF stalker Tara had years ago. I thought he was out of her life for good but maybe he has come back and finish what he started. A long shot but might be worth looking into."

"Maybe I will." Patterson stood up. "I will have the guards release you after lunch. I expect you to stay available otherwise you will have an APB on you in no time. I will be in touch, Mr. Teller."

*   *   *   *   *

Juice spent most of the day talking to doctors and one nice but disturbingly curious psychiatrist who was supposed to check if he was suicidal or not. Juice had done his best to appear as normal as possible in this conversation which was admittedly hard when you had just overdosed on booze and pills. But he kept giving her nothing and in the end she had little choice but to believe him. When she gave him a reluctant clean bill of health – though strongly recommending him to get some follow-up therapy – he finally breathed easy again. Juice knew he had problems but he also knew that psych wards terrified him and highly doubted a shrink could make him feel any better. Besides, he already knew what he had to do to get well and the first step was to get the hell out of here. Wendy was not thrilled by this idea. "I still think that you should get some more rest," she said. "We don't know what the drugs have done with your head."

"I feel much better already," Juice answered while putting on his cut. "Besides, I hate hospitals; I will heal faster on the outside."

"You tried to kill yourself Juice, you should let them help you. Trust me, I have been there, you rarely get better without help."

"I didn't try to kill myself," Juice said hotly.

"I thought you didn't remember what happened," Wendy replied.

"I don't but I am sure I didn't do this on purpose."

Wendy looked highly skeptical and Juice couldn't blame her. Truth be told, he wasn’t sure at all. It sounded too plausible for comfort especially after the fight with Jax, which was interestingly the last thing he clearly remembered – and one of the reasons why he wanted to get the hell out of here. Juice checked his reflection in the mirror. He was properly dressed now in his jeans, t-shirt and cut. He had not shaved during his here and both his face and his head was covered in stubble. Juice found that he liked it, maybe he would go with a rougher look for a while. Only one thing was missing. "Is my bike still at your place?"

Wendy nodded. "Yeah but I had to move it a bit to make room for the car."

"Good, can you drive me back there? I need to get it."

"For what?"

"To go somewhere?" Juice suggested, failing to keep the smile of his face. A thought came to him. "How did you even find me? I thought you were in rehab."

"I was but I needed to get some more of my stuff. Gemma pretty much dumped me there and drove off. I only expected to be gone for a few hours."

Now Juice felt guilty. "Sorry for the trouble. I can only assume I had good reasons to stay at your place."

Wendy’s gaze softened. "I’m not angry, Juice. I didn’t mind staying with you. But I couldn’t help wondering, why wasn’t anybody of the club here?"

A cold shiver passed over Juice at the thought of the club. "Did you tell them what happened?"

"No, I thought they either knew already or you didn’t want them to know."

"I am glad you didn’t. Jax and I haven’t been on the best of terms lately and he would probably lose his shit if he knew about this."

"Yeah, I know what it is like to be on his shit-list," Wendy said wistfully.

Juice doubted that very much but he did not press his point. "Thanks for taking care of me but I can take it from here. Just get me back to your place and I will be out of your hair."

"Are you sure? You don’t have to go through this alone, Juice."

Juice almost smiled at that. Yeah, he had.

*   *   *   *   *

When he got out of prison Jax felt the sun on his face for the first time in almost two days. The stay in jail had been short but surprisingly hard to bear. Good thing Patterson had seen reason in time. Happy and Chibs had come with a van to pick him up and Jax was grateful for the company. It wasn't Opie but it would do. He hugged them both. "Glad to be out," Jax said.

"Good to see you in one piece," Chibs said.

"Glad to have you back, Prez," Happy supplied, making both Chibs and Jax pause.

"I guess we have to talk about that one," Jax said. "But let's get out of here first."

"Abel and Thomas are at Gemma’s," Chibs said. "We can bring you there, so you can see them."

Jax shook his head. "Ice cream shop first. We have things to discuss."

Chibs raised an eyebrow at that but said nothing. Jax guessed he could not fault the guy for being surprised. But there would be time to comfort his kids later. For now, he had things to set in motion and Gemma would take good care of them. The drive to the ice cream shop was uneventful and luckily Chibs didn't ask too many questions – Happy was silent as usual. When they had arrived and he got out of the car, Jax realized that he had never expected to see this place again. True, the deal had only been for twenty-five years with possible parole in ten but a lot could happen in that time. There had been a real possibility that he would end up like Otto and rot inside. Or that somebody took him out to hurt the club. Or that the club moved somewhere else or disbanded. Jax had known that when he made the deal and standing here again made it all feel so unreal. Like he was supposed to be dead but lived on by unnatural means.

This thought was very troubling and he quickly shook it off. Chibs gave him a worried look but Jax ignored him and went inside. It seemed like almost everyone was here, including the newer members like Quinn. Jax wasn't sure what to make of them yet and it hurt him to see so many unfamiliar faces. There was no sight of Juice and Jax wondered where he was now. His brothers all offered hugs and words of support but Jax barely heard them. "Chapel," he said once the greetings where over. "Me, Chibs and Bobby."

They all obeyed instantly and Jax found this amusing. It seemed like no matter who wore the patch, they all knew Jax was the rightful leader of SAMCRO. Once they were all in the Chapel and Chibs had closed the door, Jax spoke. "I spoke with Patterson today. Our deal is dead and for the time being I am not a suspect for Tara's murder. There might be some blowback down the line but for the time being it seems like we are good with the law."

"And we are all glad to have you back," Bobby said.

"Thanks," Jax said, feeling it would be good to play nice given what he had to ask. "This changes a lot of things, including our leadership. I know I have no right to ask this of you but I would like to be president again. I took great pains to get SAMCRO where it is now and I would like to see it all the way through. I could ask the club for a vote but I want it to run by you. If you want to say on, I will respect this and be happy as a normal member."

This was a lie. Jax wanted the gavel back and if Bobby would give him trouble he would find a way to remove him – one way or the other. It wasn’t just a power game, Jax knew that war with Lin was very likely and he doubted Bobby was strong enough for that. He would have to lead SAMCRO for that even if it meant toppling Bobby. Hopefully such hash measures wouldn't be necessary but he couldn’t take any chances.

To his relief Bobby nodded immediately. "I never wanted to be president anyway. The title is yours, Jax."

Jax looked at Chibs. "That good with you? I still want you as my VP, Chibs."

"Aye, Jackie, I am with you."

"Thanks, you two. Your support means a lot to me," Jax said and even meant it.           

"So what happens now?" Chibs asked.

"We will have to find who did this to Tara," Jax said. "And to do that I must ask you one difficult question. Did anyone in the club have anything to do with it?"

Bobby looked shocked. "Why would you ask that?"

"I spent a lot of time thinking in Stockton and Patterson was so helpful to remind me that Tara’s death spared me from going to jail for a long time. I would never do that to her but maybe somebody close to me wanted to save me from myself. If anyone did, I have to know. It will be difficult but I will try not to hold it against him. I know you probably thought I lost my mind when I made the deal and I can’t deny I am a somewhat relieved, I won’t go to prison."

The last part was maybe the most difficult thing to say. It made Jax feel disgusted with himself but he sometimes felt Tara’s death had stopped him from a huge mistake. He wasn't sure he really could stop himself from killing whoever had murdered Tara but he would try if it had been Chibs or Bobby who had tried to look out for him. At the moment though, it didn't seem like it. Both looked horrified.

"Jackie," Chibs said. "We had nothing to do with it. Nobody here would even consider something like that."

Bobby nodded. "We would never even suggest something like that and nobody here would act without your approval."

Jax was about to thank them when the door opened and Juice walked in. "Sorry, to barge in," the Puerto Rican said. "But I guess we have to talk."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case I don’t get another update ready in time, I want to wish all my readers a merry Christmas and a happy new year 2016


	3. Shuffle

When Juice had planned this out, he had not expected Jax to be here. It had been ridiculously easy to walk into the Chapel but now that he was face to face with his former president Juice’s bravery evaporated. Wasn’t Jax supposed to be in prison? Had Patterson backed out of the deal? And why wasn’t he wearing his cut? In any case, him being here was probably a bad sign. Juice had come to talk to Chibs and Bobby, hoping they could come to an agreement. Convincing Jax would likely be a lot harder.

"Look who’s back," the former president said, looking disturbingly at ease. "What do you want, Juice?"

"I want to clear the air between me and the club," Juice replied, hoping his voice sounded steady enough. He looked at Bobby and Chibs. "If you just hear me out, I can explain anything."

"And what makes you think we are interested?" Jax asked. "We have given you more than enough chances, Juice. It is time you answer for your crimes."

This comment pissed Juice off. His crimes? He had not even committed the crime Jax was accusing him of. "What are you even doing here? I thought you were in prison."

"Tara is dead," Chibs said. "The deal fell apart. Jackie just go back out of prison."

Juice's head spun at the information. "Dead? How? What happened?"

"She was murdered," the scot said. "Where the hell have you been, Juice? This shit was all over Charming."

"I was in the hospital. I was out of it for most of the two days. Shit, Jax, I am so sorry."

"Thanks," Jax said tonelessly.

"What happened, Juice?" Bobby asked. "Why were you in the hospital?”

Juice hesitated. Telling this story would mean talking about Darvany and neither Chibs nor Bobby knew about her. If he spilled the beans Jax might even be more pissed at him. He looked at Jax for guidance who nodded. "Go on, Juice. They should know what you did."

"When we took care of Darvany after the school shooting, she did not die from an overdose. I smothered her on Jax’s orders."

"What?" Chibs asked while Bobby looked puzzled. "And I am just hearing about this now?"

"I had to take her out quickly and without Nero suspecting us," Jax said, "There was no time for a vote, so I send Juice to kill her. I would have done it myself but I needed the deniability. It was hard enough to convince Nero we had nothing to do with the death as it was. Sorry, I guess, I should have told you afterwards but with so much shit going on it just seemed unimportant."

Juice doubted the reason was so innocent but Chibs seemed to accept this explanation. Bobby looked troubled but as he hadn’t been around at this time, it was probably hard for him to form an opinion. When nobody spoke, Juice went on. "I know Jax made the right call but it was hard to kill an innocent woman like that. It bothered me but I kept it all inside, knowing that the club depended on me being strong. It worked out fine until we got rid of Clay. Seeing him die like that just shook me up. Bobby noticed so he gave me some oxy and sent me to Diosa to get my dick sucked."

Jax raised any eyebrow at that and gave Bobby a pointed look. "It seemed like a good idea at the time," Bobby said. "Juice looked like he would blow up at any second and it was making everyone nervous. I thought some drugs and pussy might help."

"I took his advice," Juice continued. "I got to Diosa, had Lyla pick me a girl and started to get ready for her. While I waited I took some more oxy. Turned out it was too much. I overdosed."

"On purpose?" Jax asked him, his voice surprisingly casual for such an important question.

"No, at least not really. I knew I was pushing it but I didn't want to die. I was reckless but not suicidal." Chibs and Jax looked skeptical but Juice ignored them and carried on. "The girl found me in time. Lyla, Nero and Gemma patched me up. I was high as a kite and some words spilled out, enough for Nero to guess I had killed Darvany on Jax’s orders. I didn't mean to do it but I was too high stop myself. When I came to the next morning, I wasn’t sure if had just dreamt it. By that time, Nero had already confronted Jax. I'm sorry, Jax, I really didn’t want to cause any trouble."

"And we are supposed to just take your word for it?" Jax asked.

Juice shook his head. "You don't have to. You can ask Gemma or Lyla about the overdose. Maybe Nero will even tell you. And why the hell should I betray the club anyway? And to Nero? He is nothing but a pimp. What would I gain from ratting you out to him?"

Jax paused and Juice thought this was a very good sign. His story was pretty much air-tight but given Jax's state you never knew how he would react. Finally, he spoke. "I will have to conform it with Lyla and the others but for now I believe you. Sorry, I jumped the gun. Why didn’t you say anything when I confronted you?"

Juice shrugged. "Too much shock, I guess? And you didn't give me much time to explain."

Jax actually smiled at this. "Yeah, I guess I didn't. You feel better now? Now more Clay or Darvany baggage?"

"Well, actually, I think I overdosed again just the day after. Wendy found me unconscious in her apartment, all strung out on booze and sleeping pills. This is why I was in the hospital"

"Jesus Christ, boy, what the hell is the matter with you?" Chibs asked.

"I honestly can't say. I don't remember anything after I said good-bye to Jax. Side-effect of the overdose. I know I have to take better care of myself," he said when he noticed Bobby's worried face. "I...I just need to know I still have a place in SAMCRO. I can't go on without this club."

He looked at Jax and noted both Chibs and Bobby doing the same. The former president hesitated for a moment than gave a shrug. "I have to confirm the story with Lyla or my mom but if it checks out, there is no beef between us. If you feel up to the task, Juice, you can stay."

"Are you serious?" Chibs burst out. "I don’t care about the beef with the pimp and I don’t care that you and Juice have made up. He killed a brother. He has to answer for this."

"What are you suggesting?" Bobby asked.

"If we want a clean start we have to bring it to the club," Chibs said, "no more secrets."

"Then he is as good as dead," Bobby said. "Exiled in the best case but even that will be hard to justify. The rules are clear, who kills another member has to die. We can't make an exception openly without massive blowback."

Chibs seemed unfazed by this and Juice could hardly believe his eyes. He had known that Chibs was pissed at him, of course, but that he would go this far surprised him. In the meantime, Jax spoke. "This is why I kept it a secret in the first place. Juice wasn’t thinking straight when the thing with Miles went down, Roosevelt had him all twisted up about his black daddy. I knew Juice wasn’t going to get mercy from the club so I handled him myself."

"And you needed him against Clay," Bobby said. "Which I guess was the real reason."

Jax's smile was perfectly innocent. "I gave him a chance to redeem himself and this just happened to be the first task. But we should look in the future instead of the past."

"Meaning?" Chibs asked.

"Same deal as before. We give Juicy a way to discreetly make things up. Telling the truth would only damage our authority and cost us one more member. We can afford neither. Yes, we will have to keep it between ourselves but we all know this is the only way this club is working. Maybe once we are fully legal we can try to be more open but at the moment I think we all lose if we expose Juice. Everyone okay with that?"

"I guess," Bobby said. "It is not perfect but I think it is the best compromise."

Jax nodded. "What about you, VP?"

Chibs gave Juice a withering look and the Puerto Rican was certain now that Chibs despised him. He had thought they were making progress but it seemed like he had been wrong about that. "It is the wrong message, Jackie. If we don't avenge murder does this mean everybody here can do as he pleases?"

"No this is a one-time special circumstances offer," Jax said. "If anybody else does something like this he is toast. And if Juice here gets out of line you can kill him yourself, if you want it."

The Scot nodded grimly then faced Juice. "What about you, boy? You feeling up to the job or are you gonna try and off yourself again the moment things get difficult?"

This was so unfair and patronizing that Juice had to bite back his angry reply. "I'm good, Chibs. I think I am over all this shit."

He wasn't sure himself but saying anything else would be beyond stupid. "We will all keep an eye on him, " Jax said. "Make sure he gets his shit together."

"Fine," Chibs said, his voices strained. "But if anything happens it is on you."

He turned around and walked out of the chapel, slamming the door behind him. "Seems like his is not completely on board yet," Jax said with a small smile.

"He will come around," Bobby said, though didn't sound too sure. "I think I should talk to him."

"You do that, I want to have a word with Juice anyway," Jax said.

Bobby nodded and left the two of them alone. Juice could hardly believe it. He did it! He was back in the club. And surprisingly he owned it all to Jax, the very same man who had wanted him dead two days ago. He felt a stupid grin break out on his face.

Jax walked over to him. "Seems like we got you off one more time."

"Yeah, thank you so much, Jax. I wouldn’t have a chance with you."

They were close enough, so Juice hugged him. Jax hugged him back and Juice felt better than he had in weeks. "You’re welcome, Juice," Jax said as they parted again. "Would have been really unfair to let them kill or exile you for my overreaction. Besides, you are one of my best assets at the moment."

"What do you mean?" Juice asked, his good mood evaporating.

"I still need you, Juice. Now that I know you didn’t rat me out to Nero, I am willing to go back to our arrangement. I will even keep you save from Chibs in exchange for your help. I hope you are up for the task. Important things will happen soon and I want you by my side for that."

Juice sighed. Of course Jax had not saved him out of the goodness of his heart. "How long is this supposed to go on, Jax? I can’t go on doing this forever, I really need an end here. Didn't I do enough for you?"

Jax eyed him cautiously and Juice had no idea what went on his head. "I know you helped me get Clay and I know this is hard on you. Just stick with me until the retaliation for Tara is complete. If you do well, I will forgot that Miles ever happened and we will never speak of this arrangement again. How does this sound?"

"Great," Juice said. But a thought came him and his mood soured. "What should I do for you? Kill somebody else?"

"If it comes to that."

Juice looked down. "Do I have to? Can’t I just, I don't know, gather intel for you or something? I know we sometimes have to get bloody for the club but this shit is different."

"Can’t be helped, Juice. Just be thankful I don't need you to suck my dick."

"I would actually prefer that," Juice said, forcing himself to look Jax in the eye. "If you want I will suck you off right now. Or you bend me over the table and fuck me till I scream."

For once, Juice had managed to give Jax pause. He looked Juice up and down and the Puerto Rican suddenly felt like a piece of meat. "That's a solution for a very different problem." Jax said after some time.

"Yeah, but one that doesn’t make we want to pull my own skin off."

Jax’s friendly demeanor vanished. "You know what your problem is, Juice? You are half-in and half-out. You are not stupid and you know that we sometimes have to make tough decisions to keep what we have, but you keep freaking out about it. Everything would have been fine with Darvany if you hadn't lost your grip and tried to numb the pain with oxy. It is one bad decision after the other with you. You take out Miles and then try to kill yourself, you whore yourself out to me to keep you safe and then get all twisted up when I want your help to take out Clay. You even get upset about some junkie whore you didn't even know."

"This was more about Clay," Juice said softly who thought he was getting scolded like a schoolboy. "I was upset about Clay, spelling the beans about Darvany was pretty much coincidence."

"I don't really care," Jax said coolly. "The fact is, you either have to toughen up or stop trying to make the hard calls."

"Is this even an option?" Juice asked. It would be nice to go back to the simpler days when he had just followed orders and done his hacking. Since he had started keeping secrets his life had become much more complicated.

Jax gave him a very unpleasant grin. "Maybe if you tell everyone the truth. Gather the club, have a big therapy session and watch the Mayhem vote that will follow. It might give you some peace of mind but it will also put a bullet in your brain. Though it might make Chibs happy."

"Shit," Juice said, knowing in his heart that Jax was right. "This is so unfair. Clay and Tig killed Donna and they never had to pay for that! And they even meant to do it!"

"We buried that truth deep enough to contain it. And these things are different. Donna wasn't a member and Clay thought he was protecting the club with the hit. They could pin the blame on Stahl. You killed another member so we wouldn’t know you ratted. This is very hard to sell. If you want to stay in the club, you have to stop thinking things will get back to normal anytime soon. This secret has to say buried forever if you want to be safe. Trust me, it will get easier over time. But this will only work if you keep your shit together and do what has to be done without falling apart every time."

"I'm not as strong as you are, Jax, I don't know if I can do that."

"I know it is not as easy as it sounds, I needed a few pushes myself." He put an arm around Juice. "Don’t worry, I will help you through it. Just do what I tell you and everything will be fine."

A part of Juice knew that this was too good to be true but most of him was just happy for any guidance. He looked at Jax, saw what looked like honest concern and nodded.

  
*   *   *   *   *

Jax took time for a smoke in the chapel after talking with Juice. He had not seen this turn of events coming. In hindsight, it was pretty obvious that getting in bed with Nero made no sense for Juice and Jax wondered why he hadn't realized it sooner. He should have double-checked before confronting the Puerto Rican. To his defense, he had been preoccupied at the time but it was still a level of sloppiness he could not afford in the future. If Gemma was right about Lin, SAMCRO could face a full-out war for the first time in years and it would be Jax's task to steer them through it. He could not lose members on misunderstandings under these circumstances. Of course, it was very possible that this was an elaborate ruse on Juice's part but Jax did not think so. The Puerto Rican would not have given him four different people to confirm this story, if he has just made things up. Jax made a mental note to talk to Lyla as soon as possible. His mom was too stressed out with the kids and Lin and he did not know the whore Juice had visited. If she confirmed the story, Juice was back in Jax's good graces – at least for the time being.

Juice was a strange case. He made some good moves from time to time, only to despair over them afterwards. Even in his simpler, more idealistic time Jax had not done that. Maybe he could beat some sense into the guy over time, a tougher Juice would be useful to have on his side. But if he slipped up one more time, Jax would have no choice but to take him out. Depending on Juice’s sins, Jax would either have Happy kill him or pull him from all active duty and keep him in the clubhouse only. Hopefully, it wouldn’t come to that. Jax finished his smoke and got up. It was time for church.

He went back to the others and found that somebody had gotten Jax’s cut from his house which had hung there since the night Tara had died. Jax looked at it fondly for a moment and then slipped it on. Now both he and Bobby were sprouting "President" patches but this would be cleaned up soon. Jax nodded to Bobby and the acting president spoke. "Alright, chapel everybody."

Jax resisted the temptation to take his place at the head of the table but sat down between Chibs and Juice instead. Seemed good to separate the two anyways, Chibs was continuing to shoot dirty looks at the Puerto Rican. Jax noted how many unfamiliar faces were at the table. He hardly knew the new guys West, Quinn and Montez and after the disaster with the Nomads he was hesitant to trust new people. Seeing Rat was also strange and Jax felt an sting in his heart when he thought of everyone they had lost. Sack should sit there, all patched in by now. Opie's absence also hurt him every time he was in church. Piney was less obvious, he had hardly been there anyway and had been pretty difficult but he still hadn’t deserve this end. Jax had not known Kozik well but he seemed like a good guy and would be missed. As for Clay, well Jax was not sad he was gone.

Bobby spoke. "You probably have noticed that Jax is back. The deal had had with the DA died with Tara and since he is apparently in the clear for Tara's death, Patterson was so kind to return him to us."

Applause rang the room and Jax smiled. It was really good to be back. Bobby continued. "As far as Juice goes, I am sure you heard some rumors of a fallout between him and Jax in the last days. Turn out it was just a misunderstanding and our brother is back with us in good graces."

The message probably would have been stronger if Chibs had not scowled at the words. Still, there was a polite applause for Juice – Jax joined in – and the Puerto Rican looked happy enough with the response. Jax just hoped that his story would check out, otherwise they would all look pretty stupid.

"What happens now that Jax is back?" Happy asked. "Will you stay president, Bobby?"

Bobby shook his head. "Chibs and I sat down with Jax and we figured it would be best if Jax will take the gavel again with Chibs as his VP. I will step back into the fold. Once our transition to a new SAMCRO is complete, we will have a new discussion on who should be president. Until then, we though Jax should see the transition away from guns through to the end. Can everybody live with that or do we need a proper vote?"

Nobody said anything which seemed to enough for Bobby. "Alright, welcome back at the gavel, Jax. You want to say something?"

"Thanks, Bobby. I really appreciate the trust you all show me." Jax paused. "This morning I met with Tyne Patterson. Among other things she gave me some details about how Tara died. Turns out she was stabbed in the head with a fork and drowned in the kitchen sink."

Dark murmurs filled the room and Jax allowed them to continue for a moment before speaking again. "Her death was obviously meant to hurt both me and the club and cannot go unanswered. We have to retaliate and at the moment we have only one suspect: Lin. My mother claims she saw a Chinese leaving the home this day and we had enough beef with them in the past to give them a motive. Once we confirm this, I want to bring the full wrath of SAMCRO down on these treacherous assholes."

"And we are with you Jackie," Chibs said. "Tara was a good woman, we will make them pay for what they did."

"How are we going it confirm it?" Juice asked. "Lin will never admit it."

"We have to check if Gemma can identify the guy who did it," Jax replied. "If he is with Lin, we know he is responsible. Then we strike."

"How are we gonna do that?" Bobby asked. "We can hardly bring her to Chinatown and let her have a look at Lin's crew."

Jax smiled. He already had an idea for that.

*   *   *   *   *

Juice lay awake this night, wondering about how to go on. He guessed things had went better than expected today. He was still alive and at least somewhat back in the club’s good graces which was all he could ask for really. But Jax's words haunted him. Was the VP right? Was he simply too weak for all this? He could not deny that the track record of his schemes was mixed at best but he just hated the secrecy and backstabbing. Juice had always liked the idea of the club as a brotherhood, a community that gave him the love he had missed most of his life. He just couldn’t handle betraying them. He just wanted things to go back to normal and....

He stopped himself there. Jax was right, the old days were gone and they would not come back anytime soon. Maybe things would get easier once the club had fully transitioned to porn and had rebuilt with new members but this would not happen for years – maybe never with Jax at the helm. Juice could not just hope that he never had to make a hard call again. At any time, Jax could give him another mission or somebody in the club could learn the truth about Juice’s crimes and threaten to expose him. Juice either had to be ready for this or he had to make his mind up and run as fast he could. And he already knew that the latter wasn't an option. The club might look a lot bleaker these days but it beat being a lonely, washed-up biker any day. He didn't even know what he would do without the club. No, he was SAMCRO till the end and if they wanted to take his cut, they would have to pry it from his corpse.

Yeah, that sounded good. But Juice knew his position was precarious. Chibs could try to expose him – this thought hurt Juice more than he had expected – or somebody else could learn the truth. Or Juice could piss off Jax again and the president would leave him out to dry if not kill him himself. Juice couldn't let this happen. He was done pitying himself. He was done letting others use him. From now on, he would take his life into his own hands and do whatever it took to save himself. He would not let them kill him for Roosevelt jerking him around, not after everything he had done for Jax. Jax had promised him an end so Juice would do whatever the president wanted no matter if that mean lying, killing or sucking his dick. And once he had Jax handled he would make damn sure the other kept their mouths shut. He wasn't sure how he would do that but he was confident he was figure something out.

These hard thoughts felt wrong in his head and he knew all this was easier said than done but he also knew that he could not go on like that. He knew it would be tough but Jax hadn’t always be like that either and now had a cold-hearted efficiency that made Juice shiver. Opie’s death had changed the president and Juice vowed that his two overdoses would change him as well. And the first step would be to stay away from every drug stronger than weed. A third overdose would just be embarrassing for everyone. Once he had that done, he would go on from there, one difficult decision at the time.

"I can do that," he whispered to himself in the dark, "I can be as strong as Jax is. I will make sure nobody can ever hurt me again."

Comforting words but he wasn't sure he believed them.


	4. First Blood

Jax moved on top of Tara, kissing her passionately. Her hands moved over his naked chest, sliding towards the black boxer brief which was the only thing he currently wore. Jax devoured her mouth, his tongue battling with hers while she hooked a hand into his briefs, gently tugging them down and freeing his erection. Jax quickly shook the underwear off and used one hand to pull her panties down, leaving them both completely naked. He was back on top and inside and her in less than five seconds, groaning at the contact he had missed for so long. He started moving immediately, hungry for her in a way he had not felt since the day he had gotten out of jail. She moaned under him and pulled their mouths together again. Her hand took his and for the first time in weeks Jax felt close to her again. He freed his mouth for a moment while continuing to give her soft thrust. "I missed you so much, babe. I love you."

"I love you too, Jax," Tara gasped. "Now make love to me like you mean it."

Jax couldn't help grinning. "On it, babe."

He sped up again, pulling out all the stops to get them both over the edge as fast as possible. Soon, he came deep inside of her, collapsing on top of her and closing his eyes for a moment. When he opened them again, Tara wasn’t moving anymore. Blood covered her body, sticking to Jax’s body and her empty eyes looked accusingly at him. Jax jerked back and woke with a start. He looked around the empty bedroom, trying to make sense of what had happened. It was light outside, soft rays of light turning the room into half-dark. Jax looked around in the twilight but found no sign for Tara. He looked down at his chest but found nothing but smooth skin. His dick was half-hard rather than fully erect and was on his way to being flaccid again. Jax sighed and slumped back onto his back. It had just been a nightmare. Sweat was drying on his skin, turning the air uncomfortably cold.

When he had calmed down a bit, he got up and took a shower to wash off the worst of the night. The warm water helped but Jax was still upset about the dream. He had slept badly after Opie had died as well and those dreams had been almost as disturbing. They hadn’t featured having sex with Opie, though, which Jax was now very grateful for. Hopefully these nightmare would pass once he had gotten his revenge just as they had with Opie. Naturally, nobody could know about his dreams, Jax had to be strong for his club, for his kids.

This last part was the hardest. Abel and Thomas were still at Gemma’s and Jax dreaded having to face his eldest son. Abel would probably be devastated that his mom was gone. What could Jax tell him to make it better? That mommy was in heaven? Would that even help? Thomas was too young to understand what had happened and Jax was very grateful for that. But he knew he could not postpone seeing his kids forever. Able needed him now and no matter how bad he felt he had to take care of his children – though this was easier said than done. Maybe he had given Ope too much shit all those years back, he understood now how he had felt. "Sorry Ope," he murmured. "I wish I could take it back."

No answer of course and Jax felt extremely lonely for a few seconds. He could not even confide in the club. Nobody followed a leader who was falling apart at the seams. Hell, not even his mom was a good should to cry on. She was too overbearing, too harsh in her judgment of any weakness. He had always confided in Opie or Tara and both were gone now. He was alone, probably forever. Jax shook his head, annoyed at himself. Basking in his misery would not help anyone. He needed to be sharp and focused if he wanted to pull this thing of. He need to stop with the doubt and the self-pity. He would find out the truth, find Lin and cut this bastard to pieces. He would feel better, afterwards, he was sure of it.

He had just stepped out of the shower and was toweling off when the door opened and Happy walked in. "You here, boss?"

"Obviously," Jax said, pausing while toweling off his hair. "Is it that late already?"

"Yeah, you didn’t answer so I let myself in. Wanted to make sure everything is okay."

Jax wondered if he had really forgotten to check his watch at all. He really had to get a grip on himself. He wondered if the others noticed his distraction. Happy, at least, was even more protective of him than usual, making it hard to get any privacy these days. Not that Jax didn’t value the loyalty but sometime it got a bit much. Now for instance, since Hap still hadn’t moved but rather continued to watch him alertly. "Either towel off my back or get the hell out, Hap. I can dry myself without you watching me."

The Sergeant seriously seemed to consider one of the neatly stacked towels near him but mercifully nodded and left the room. Jax vowed never to make another joke like that with Hap. He dressed and started to get some breakfast. Happy was watching him like a hawk and Jax did his best to ignore him.

"Where do we want to go after breakfast?" Happy asked, when watching Jax eat had apparently become to boring. "Clubhouse?"

"My mom’s,“ Jax answered. "I want to see her and the boys before we had to Stockton."

"Finish up so we can go," Happy said, apparently anxious to be on the way. "I will breathe easier once we are with the others."

He checked his watch. "One thing we have to do first. I asked Lyla to come over. She should be here soon."

If Happy wondered about this unusual meeting time, he did not show it. Jax had chosen it because he didn’t want Nero or Juice around when he asked her about the overdose. He had just finished his breakfast and brushed his teeth when she arrived. "Hey, Jax."

"Morning, darling", Jax said, hugging her.

"I am really sorry for what happened to Tara," Lyla said as they parted. "How are you?"

"I'm okay" Jax said, like he could say anything else with Happy hovering over his shoulder. "Thanks for coming so early. I wanted to discuss something with you."

"Okay," she said.

"I need you to reach out to all your old porn contacts. We are re-starting Caracara – probably with a new name – and I need some more talent for it. Think you could help with that?"

"Yeah, sure," Lyla said. "I could bring in some girls to get us started. Maybe some of Nero’s girl would be interested as well."

"Maybe," Jax said, not looking forward to that conversation.

Lyla hesitated for a moment. "I could ask Ima as well. I know you guys had your differences but she really has a lot of fans."

Jax raised an eyebrow. "You two patched things up?"

"She got me away from those Persian assholes, it is hard to stay mad after that," Lyla said simply.

Jax had his doubts but with both Opie and Tara dead it did not make sense to keep Ima away to stabilize those marriages. "Bring her, we need all the help we can get. I just hope she doesn't expect me to apologize."

"I don't the she does, Jax," Lyla said, a small smile at her face. "Where are we shooting?"

"We took over the studio from the Persians. Completely remolded by the way, all the torture shit is gone. It should be ready to shoot now. If you want, you can have a look. Let Rat take you, though, I don’t want you going there alone."

"I will, Jax, thanks."

Jax hesitated a moment before asking his next question. "You going to star as well?"

"No, I think I will stick to directing for the time being. Somebody has to take Luann's job and I think most of the club will be too busy masturbating to care about the movie."

Jax grinned at that. "Yeah, I guess they will be."

"Is there anything else? I have to get the kids to school."

"Yeah, actually," Jax said, carefully thinking about how he would word his next request. "I am going to ask you something and I really need you to tell the truth no matter who you might want to protect by lying. Trust me, the truth will be better for everyone involved."

"Okay," Lyla said, looking a litte anxious now.

"Did Juice overdose at Diosa three days ago?"

Lyla looked down which told Jax already everything he had to know. "Yeah he did. Lost track of the oxy he took. Gemma, Nero and I patched him up. I didn’t say anything because I wasn’t sure he wanted you to know. Sorry."

"That's all right," Jax said, his mind already spinning. Seemed like Juice had told the truth after all. He owed the guy an apology. "Thanks, Lyla. This helps quite a lot."

"Will Juice be in trouble?" Lyla asked

"No, this helps everyone even him. I will let you go to work. Come on, Hap. Let’s go to my mom's."

*   *   *   *   *

The ride to Gemma’s was uneventful and they found her and the boys busy at breakfast. "Hey, ma," Jax said before walking to Abel and giving him a kiss on the forehead. "Morning, little guy."

"Morning daddy," Abel said. He seemed normal enough and for a moment Jax hoped that he might have taken Tara’s death not as hard as feared. "When is Mommy coming back?"

Jax felt stumped by this question. Gemma came to his help. "Mommy is in heaven, Abel. People don't come back from Heaven."

"Why?" Abel asked, turning to Gemma.

"Because heaven is so nice nobody ever wants to leave," Gemma said with a confidence that surprised Jax.

"But I miss her," Abel said.

"We all do," Gemma said. "But I know she is watching us from up there."

Abel still looked sad so Jax squatted down so they were on face-level. "I miss mommy too but I know she will always be with me in my heart. She is in a better place now. And when the time comes, we will all be with her again."

"Really?" Abel asked, looking a bit more hopeful.

"Really," Jax said. "But until this happens it is just you, me and Tommy now."

"Are you going away again, Daddy?" Abel asked.

Jax shook his head. "No, I will never leave you again. I have to go to work but I will see you guys tonight. I will tell Grandma to bring you back home. So be good to her during the day."

"Okay," Abel said.

"Good, now finish your breakfast. We want you to get big and strong, like your late uncle Opie."

"Maybe not quite as big," Gemma commented. She took a bottle from Thomas who had just emptied it. Jax took his youngest son and held him for a minute. He was happy Thomas at least had no questions to ask him. "Happy look after Abel, I want to speak with Grandma for a moment."

Gemma followed him into the living room well out of earshot from Abel. Jax noted that Nero was nowhere in sight. "Where is Nero?"

"I guess we broke up," Gemma said tonelessly.

Jax rose an eyebrow. "You or him?"

"Him. Didn't even give me a good reason. Just some vague bullshit about need to figure some stuff out."

Interesting. It seemed like Nero was really serious about cutting ties with Jax. That suited the president just fine, Nero was nothing more than a pathetic, washed-up hypocritical pimp who played the gangster with a heart to cover for his weakness. Jax never should have let him get so close to Gemma and his inner circle. He would cut out this tumor soon enough, though. He just had to make sure that Diosa was not hurt by it. Afterwards Nero could happily team up with the Mayans for as long as he liked. Him dumping Gemma actually made things easier, though Jax guessed it was hard on his mom. She was not completely over Clay yet and now had lost her rebound. "Sorry, mom. That might be some club business backfiring on you."

She looked at him in surprise. "What do you mean?"

"Nero is getting really close to the Mayans these days. Seems like he wants to get away from the Sons and this apparently includes you."

"Jesus Christ," Gemma said. "What the hell happened? You guys were fine."

"I can't really say," Jax said. "It surprised me as well. I will try to smooth it over but you have to expect the worst. I don't want you caught in another escalation, so please stay away from him until I tell you something else. Okay?"

"Yeah, alright," she said, looking really disappointed. Jax felt bad for her but some things just could not be avoided.

"There is something else you have to do for me. It’s about Tara."

"Alright."

"The Chinese you saw, you think you could id him?"

Gemma hesitated. "I'm not sure. It was dark and you know they all look the same, Jax."

"Just try. It could be very important."

"Why? It already tells us that Lin was responsible. Why does it matter which of his guys did it?"

"I want to make sure the retaliation hits the right person. That's all you need to know."

Gemma sighed. "I guess I could try. Not sure how I should get close to him, though."

"Let me handle that," Jax said. "I will give you a call when I know the details. I will be in Stockton for the rest of the day but I will try to get the kids myself. Otherwise I will send someone. Could be a good task for Juice."

"Juice?" Gemma asked. "I thought he was gone. Is he back?"

"Yeah. He has more hair now, always strange to see."

"I thought you two had a falling out?" Gemma asked.

Jax raised an eyebrow. "Who told you that? Anyway, it was just a misunderstanding. He is good with me and the club again. And I really should get going, thanks ma."

He gathered Happy and kissed his kids good-bye before heading towards the clubhouse.

*   *   *   *   *

Gemma managed to hold it together for the rest of breakfast. When Abel was busy playing with blocks in the living room and Thomas was sleeping in his crypt, the full blow of what Jax had just told her hit her. Juice was alive? How the hell had that happened? She had shoved enough pills down his throat to kill him three times over. The little shit was always on the brink of suicide but was surprisingly hard to kill. What the hell was going on? He couldn't have told Jax the truth. If he had, Jax would already have her killed. Had Juice come to his goddamned senses? Or was he playing some game here? Maybe he was trying to use the knowledge as leverage on her. But for what? She had nothing he wanted, especially if he was already back in Jax’s good graces. And how the hell had that happened? She hadn't known the details but it had seemed like it was a life and death situation. These problems didn't just vanish over a "misunderstanding". Was Jax bullshitting her? Did he know after all and just waited for the right moment to strike? But why had he asked her about the Chinese then? Just to make her feel safe? Shit, this was all getting way too complicated. She had hoped for a clean break but it seemed like bad luck followed her around.

There was a knock on the door and she jumped at the sound. She took her gun and carefully got close to the door. "Who’s there?"

"It's me Gemma," Unser said. "You asked me to help with the kids, remember?"

"Oh right." She put the gun away and opened the door. "Sorry, it is all a bit much at the moment. Come in."

"I can imagine," Unser said. He waved at Abel and sat down on the kitchen table. He lowered his voice when he continued, making sure that Abel was out of earshot. "How is Jax holding up?"

"As well as one can under these circumstances."

"And the boys?"

"Thomas is too young to realize it but Abel is having some problems. Too early to tell, I guess," Gemma said.

Unser eyed her shrewdly. "And you, Gemma? How do you feel?"

She wondered if her anxiety showed. "I'm fine, Wayne. I can't afford to be anything else. My family needs me."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course, I am sure. You know me, Wayne, I am no one for pity parties. And I don't see you mourning Roosevelt either."

"That would be in bad taste," Unser said dryly. "He is still alive, after all."

"What?" Gemma asked. "I thought he was dead."

"No, but it was a close call. He is still in a coma in St. Thomas but he is stable for time being."

Shit, the hits just came on coming. Now she had not only Juice to worry about but also this asshole sheriff as well. The moment he opened his goddam eyes again he would tell everyone in the world that she had killed Tara. Then she would definitely be arrested but Gemma did not delude herself. Once the knowledge was out, she would not live long enough for a trial. And this would crush Jax, rob the boys from a strong female role model and of course kill her. She had to stop this from happening. But what could she do? She could hardly walk into the hospital and kill Roosevelt. This DA bitch would probably have him guarded round the clock and Gemma did not have the reach to have him taken out in spite of that. She would need the club's help for that and obviously that was out of the question. Unless she gave them a reason. But what reason could this be? Tell Jax that Juice had killed Tara and that Roosevelt had seen him? But Juice could easily deny that and she obviously had no proof. Her word would probably not be good enough, now that Juice was back in Jax's good graces, especially since he had no motive. Besides, she would admit lying to Jax at the same time which would not help her credibility. And who knew what Juice had already told Jax? She really needed more information. She had to find this Puerto Rican cockroach and figure out if he would roll on her. Then she had to find a way to handle Roosevelt. Best case would be that he never woke up again. "Wayne, do you think he will wake up?"

"What do I know? I am not his doctor. I only know this stuff due to my old ties to the cops."

"Maybe he knows who killed Tara. Jax would kill for that"

"Not just him," Unser said. He shook his head "I still can’t believe it. She was so close to being out of the life only to die in her kitchen. What kind of monster would do something like that?"

"Jax suspects the Chinese," Gemma said.

"I understand that sometimes retaliation lands in Charming but something brutal like that against an old lady? Seems pretty personal to me. If he wasn’t dead, Clay would be my first pick."

This line of thinking was way too dangerous. "What, you trying to be a cop again? I think you should stay in retirement, Wayne."

"Joke all you want, Gemma, but I am going to find out who did this to Tara. I owe her that much. She was a good friend and didn’t deserve to go out like that."

Great, just what she needed. One more guy poking around. She would have to keep an eye on Wayne too. But first things first, she had to find Juice and figure out what the fuck was going on.

*   *   *   *   *

Juice felt surprisingly happy when he came to the clubhouse this day. It was a hard time for the club with Tara dead and the pay was miserable with them getting out of guns but Juice was too happy to be back to be weighed down by that. He was the first to arrive – usually he slept a bit longer but he had woken up early and had been too excited to go back to sleep. Back at TM he would have started with some car work but obviously there were no cars around for him to work on in an ice cream shop. So he settled for tidying up and giving the rather run-down place a sense of order. He was just re-arranging the filled candy bowls we he heard a bike come up and somebody coming in. "Morning," he said without turning around. There, now it was perfect.

"You the only one here?" Chibs’s gruff voice replied and Juice’s good mood vanished instantly.

He carefully turned around. "I think so."

"Good," the Scot said. "I think it is time we talk."

Juice's first impulse was to get ready for another beat down but this time a part of him objected. He had vowed to be strong like Jax and Jax would never let anybody use him as a living punching ball – well, not without planning the offender's painful demise in any case. He would take a leaf out of Jax's book now. "I hope it doesn’t involve a beat down because this time I will definitely hit you back."

Chibs looked very unconcerned about that. "Aye? And why is that?"

"Because this time I didn't do anything," Juice replied. "The thing with Darvany was an accident."

"I don't give a shit about the junkie whores Jackie had you take out or about whatever beef he has with Nero. No, Juicy, this is about you and me."

"I didn't do anything to you," Juice said. "I know I messed up badly in the past but none of my mistakes blew back on you. Jax had more reason to be mad and he forgave me."

"Well, unfortunately for you, we others have a say in that too. Jax is not king of SAMCRO."

Chibs was wrong about that but Juice did not correct him. It would probably only inflame the Scot further and he was trying to be diplomatic here. "Why don't you start by telling me what I did wrong so I can start apologizing?"

In his head this was a perfectly reasonable thing to say. You diagnosed the problem and then you fixed it, right? In real life this turned out to be not the right line at all. Chibs was visibly swelling in anger. "You don't even know? Jesus Christ, boy. How about the small fact that I spent weeks worrying about you, trying to figure out how to save your suicidal ass and during all our heart to hearts you didn't even bother to tell me what you did?"

"I couldn't tell you," Juice said. "You would have to tell the club and I would be dead. Or you could keep it quiet and would be my accomplice."

"That would be on me to decide!" Chibs said. "I deserved the truth, Juice. God, I feel so stupid now. I remember talking to Jackie about you. Him being all worried, me telling that I would help you. I thought you were all twisted up about having to kill Miles to do what was right for the club. I was so close and so wrong at the same time."

Juice wanted to say something but Chibs interrupted them. "And then it gets even worse. After you somehow managed to get out of Roosevelt’s thumb you whore yourself out to Jackie and he uses you for his war against Clay. And I am left the fool once more, still completely in the dark about everything. And just to add insult to injury he then tells me that all is forgiven and I should welcome you back into the fold. Can't you see how this might be difficult for me?"

"I'm sorry, Chibs," Juice said. "I wish it hadn't played out the way it did. But what do you want me to do now? I can't turn back time and call Roosevelt’s bluff. Do you want me dead? Out of the club?"

Chibs regarded him with the grimmest expression Juice had ever seen on his face. "I don't know. I want to forgive you but that doesn’t change the fact that you are a weak junkie rat. I don't think you belong here anymore, Juicy."

Juice hung his head. It was not unexpected but it still hurt like a bitch. Then he thought about Jax again and steeled himself. He forced himself to look Chibs in the eye. "Think what you want, Chibs. But you, Jax and Bobby voted for welcoming me back so I am going nowhere. Trust me, I won't let down the club again. Maybe in time you will see that too."

Chibs wanted to say something but Bobby chose this moment to arrive. "Everything alright?" he asked.

"Fine", Chibs said and stalked off towards the Chapel.

*   *   *   *   *

It was mostly business as usual at the clubhouse today. Their main goal was to get Caracara back up and running and Jax gave most of the guys tasks related to that – mostly in Stockton. Getting confirmation from the Chinese was his task and he would need a meeting with Lin for that. This should be easy enough to set up – greed and his uncertainty about the new status would get Lin to talk to him – but first Jax went to Diosa. He had a conversation with Nero that probably couldn't wait. He didn't expect too much trouble but he was grateful he had Chibs and Happy with him all the same – better to be safe than sorry. Diosa was just waking up – they had little business before noon but some of the girls were already there. "Nero around?" Jax asked a pretty redhead whose name he did not know.

She nodded. "In his office."

"Do you want us to come along, pres?" Happy asked.

"I will take Chibs with me. You stay here and enjoy the girls. We will give you a shout, if we need you."

He walked over to the office, knock and walked inside. Nero was looking up from some papers. "Morning."

"Morning," Nero answered. "Didn't know you were out."

"Gemma didn't tell you?" Jax asked, pretending that he didn't know about the break-up.

"I guess we broke up," Nero said.

Jax figured it was best to continue to play innocent. "Do I want to ask?"

Nero gave a small smile. "Better not, mano." He stood up and embraced him. "I am really sorry about Tara, Jax."

"Thanks," Jax said mechanically, not hugging him back.

"Any idea who did it?" Nero asked when they parted.

Jax shook his head. "Still working on it."

"Anything I can do?"

"Not right now," Jax replied. "How are things going here?"

"Running smoothly as usual," Nero said. "No interference from Patterson or anyone else. Though I really have to have another look at the paper work. Didn't get to it those last days." He hesitated

"Doesn't surprise me," Jax said. "All those meets and greets in Stockton probably took up a lot of time. They offer you a Mayan patch yet?"

To his credit, Nero did not take the bait. "No. Not surprising considering that I can't ride to save my life."

"Maybe you should learn," Jax suggested. "The way you are going, you will be Alvarez's VP in no time."

"What exactly are you saying here, Jax?" Nero asked.

"He is saying that you are getting a little close to another MC," Chibs supplied.

"This is all Byz Lats-related, Nero said. "It has nothing to do with you."

"Are you really that naïve?" Jax asked, quickly losing his temper. "The Mayan's setting up in Stockton screws us! Even if the peace between us holds, they will bring God knows what into our goddam backyard. And if we ever have a falling out again, they have a beachhead that is almost on our front lawn. So it worries me a bit that an important business partner like you apparently is dating Marcus Alvarez now. Did you even plan to tell me about the new Mayan chapter? Or was that detail too trivial for you to mention?"

"I was going to tell you," Nero said. "There is no betrayal by me here."

"Oh yeah? Funny, because everything tells me that you try to get as far as away from the club as possible. Dumping my mom, getting all cozy with Alvarez, confronting me about the junkie bitch. It all seems like you are trying to jump ship, Nero. Is that what you want?"

"I don't know what I should do," Nero shouted. "Look at it from my side, hermano. You killed someone behind my back, somebody I wanted to spare. How would you feel about that, if you were in my shoes?"

Jax felt Chibs’s gaze on him. Good thing the Scot already knew about Darvany, otherwise this discussion could get very awkward. "I wouldn't be in that situation because I would know it had to be done. And I didn’t betray you, Nero. I was trying to save us all and spare you the pain of making the hard choice."

"Boys," Chibs said, stopping Nero from a heated response. "That's not helping. We have been through too much together to let it all go to shit over one mistake. Nero, I am sorry what happened to Darvany but Jackie is right. If Patterson had caught her, she would have flipped on all of us. She had just lost his baby and it would be really easy to blame this on us." He turned to Jax. "Jackie, I know that you were just trying to help but sometimes your...executive decisions are getting a bit much."

"Maybe I should have been more careful with Darvany," Nero said, looking thoughtful.

"And maybe I shouldn’t have jumped the gun," Jax replied. He didn’t think so but he would try to smooth things over for now. For the time being, there was no reason to cut ties with Nero and Jax had enough on his plate. Besides, he didn’t want to hurt Diosa now that it was their best source of income. Though he might have to, if Nero continued to get closer to the Mayans.

"We have to work together here, boys," Chibs said. "Tara’s death has shown us all how vulnerable we can be. We can’t start fighting among ourselves – not with all the trouble brewing in Oakland."

"You are right about that," Nero said. "I am doing my best to keep things from blowing up there but everyone is really on edge."

So, the spic pimp was playing diplomat now? Jax didn't like it – it brought Nero too close to his rivals – but it might come in useful. If he fed Nero the right information he could use him as a front. "Any way I can help with that? I know now that handing over the guns to Marks just like that was a mistake. Maybe I can help correct the damage."

Nero looked surprised at his reaction. "Actually you can. Alvarez and Lin want to meet, discuss the gun deal and want to make sure you know they had nothing to do with Tara's murder. Once you are feeling ready, of course."

"No reason to wait," Jax said. "If they have time, we can meet today. Maybe in Stockton, I have some porn to set up there anyway."

"Oh, okay, I will set it up," Nero said. "I will be there as well."

"Fine with me," Jax said, figuring it was pointless to protest. "Anyway, I should get going. Lots of things to catch up to."

"Hey Jax," Nero called as he was just about to walk out. "What happened to Juice? I heard he fell out of favor."

"We made up," Jax answered vaguely. "I hope you two can do the same. He was only following orders."

Nero didn't reply for a second. Jax raised an eyebrow. "Look, you don't have to love him but he is a member of my club and in good standing. So any retaliation you might have planned must stay in your head. Otherwise, things will spiral out of control very quickly."

"As long as he stays out of my way, I will be fine," Nero said though his impression was grim.

"Good enough," Chibs said who did not seem keen on Juice either. "Come on, Jackie boy. We don't want to keep Happy alone for too long. God knows what he would do to the girls."

"Thanks for helping out," Jax said, as they walked out of Diosa. "I probably would have ripped his head off if you hadn't intervened."

"You’re welcome, Jackie." Chibs hesitated. "You really think he is in bed with the Mayans?"

Jax shrugged. "Hard to say. He is definitely too close to comfort. We either have to contain it or cut ties completely. We are good with the Mayans for now but that doesn't mean I want to give them influence over such a large share of our income."

Chibs thought for a moment. "I hope you keep a cooler head when we meet Lin. Can’t have you kill the guy the moment you see him."

"That won't be a problem," Jax said, feeling a familiar sudden chill creep through his veins. He could wait for his kills.

*   *   *   *   *

Later this day, Jax sat down with Alvarez, Nero and Lin in Stockton to discuss the next step. Nero had put this meeting together with astonishing ease which further fed Jax’s concerns about his loyalty. For the time being, he ignored them, though, there were more important things to discuss. Despite every party having quite a lot of manpower, the meeting was surprisingly civil. It was hard for Jax to see Lin like that, all calm and of course denying all involvement in Tara’s death. It made him wonder, if Gemma was wrong about the Chinese after all. Well, if all went well, he would know for sure soon.

Despite Chibs’s worries, the lies were easy to tell. He played into their desire for stability and did enough mea culpa to satisfy them. Some assurances about helping the new chapter in Stockton for Alvarez and Nero and the generous offer of playing matchmaker with the Irish for Lin followed. Once the way had been paved, Jax moved onto the most important path: the invitation to his homecoming bash in the porn warehouse this evening. A friendly gesture which would help repair trust and give Lin a good opportunity to meet with the Irish. Jax wondered if they would accept but once he saw the greedy glim in Lin’s eyes, Jax knew that he had him. It was easy to convince him to bring his whole crew afterwards which would give Gemma the chance to have a good look at them.

Jax suppressed a smile. If all went well, he would know the truth by tonight.

*   *   *   *   *

Gemma was nervous when she arrived at the warehouse in Stockton. She had wondered if Jax was luring her into a trap but it seemed like her son had told the truth. It was a warehouse filled with porn stars and everything was prepared for a party. It seemed like he really wanted her to identify Tara's killer and she had no clue how she would pull this off. Maybe she could find one lowly member of Lin's crew, some scumbag that wouldn't be missed. She could point Jax at him and hope that he would be satisfied with that. It wasn't a great plan but it was the only one she head. She tried to appear normal as she moved through the crowds, greeting everyone.

She stopped dead when she accidently passed Juice who was typing away on a laptop. He was here, alive and well – if slightly scruffier – and less than half a meter apart from her. What should she do now? Confront him? That could backfire spectacularly if he told everyone around here what she had done. Slip by and hope he didn't notice her? Better in the short term but she could not avoid this conversation forever. Eventually, she had to find out what was going on here. Before she could make a decision, Juice glanced at her. "Oh, hey Gem. Didn't know you were already here."

His voice was perfectly casual and if Gemma hadn't known better, she never would have guessed that anything had gone down between them. "Hey. Quite some party."

Juice looked around. "Yeah, pretty amazing what they got together in the short time. Guess it pays knowing so many porn stars and hookers."

"What's up with the hair?" Gemma asked feeling she should continue being casual as long as Juice did the same.

"Oh, I didn't have time shaving those last days," Juice said, running a hand over the stubble on his head. "I like it."

Those last days? Interesting choice of words. Was Juice trying to steer the conversation this way? Trying to lure her into a trap? Ah, who cared? She had to find out what she was dealing with and here was her opening. "Why? What has happened those last days? I don't remember seeing you around."

"Would be surprised if you did," Juice said. "I was in the hospital, recovering from an overdose."

Gemma felt a chill spread through her. "An overdose?"

"Yeah," Juice said. "Apparently I took too many benzos and passed out. Wendy found me and got me help in time."

"Jesus Christ, Juice. What happened?"

"No idea. I don't remember a thing – side effect of the drugs. That was a pretty embarrassing conversation with Jax, as you might imagine."

Gemma's mind was racing. Was he telling the truth? It would be very convenient for her – too convenient to be honest. Or was he lying to lure her into a sense of false security? But what did he have to gain by waiting? He could expose her at any time and the longer he waited, the more betrayed Jax would feel. It didn't make sense to play games under these circumstances. Unless he already had told Jax and was just trying to keep her calm until her son could strike. She look around the warehouse carefully. Had Jax lured her here to take her out? No, there were way too many people around. It all appeared to be genuine for the moment but Gemma could not shake the bad feeling she had about all that. "I can guess. You better now?"

"I guess," Juice said. "hard to tell when you don't remember what made you so upset. I try to stay away from all drugs for the time being."

"Probably a good choice," Gemma said.

Jax joined them at this moment. "Hey, you should get ready. The Chinese will be here any second."

"Okay, baby," Gemma said, unsure if the conversation with Juice had calmed her or made her more upset. She decided to file it away for later and focus on the task at hand: finding a Chinese to pin Tara's murder on. It was a grim duty but it had to be done to protect her family. It didn’t take her long to find the perfect mark: a young brutish guy who looked tough enough to do crack someone’s skulls with a meat fork. Some careful probing showed that he had no wife or kids to leave behind - though Gemma wasn't sure why she even cared - so she gave his name to Jax and got out of the way. She left the party before they scooped up the Chinese, hoping that everything would be over tomorrow.

*   *   *   *   *

Jax looked down at the bound and gagged Chinese soldier on the chair before him. This was him, the guy who had spilt opened Tara's skull. Gemma had pointed him out and Jax had his guys scoop him up discretely at the end of the party. He was still denying everything but unquestioning loyalty was to be expected by a trusted assassin. Jax guessed that Happy would do the same thing, if he ever found himself in such a situation. He had hoped that torturing Tara’s killer would give him some closure or satisfaction but until now he felt nothing at all – not even disgust. The Chinese was barely conscious by now and Jax guessed it was time for the grand finale. Cracking the guy’s skull with a fork was harder than had expected which only made him angrier. Tara's death must have been brutal. When the Chinese was finally dead Jax waited for the relief to come. It didn't. He felt as wretched as before if slightly more agitated. Killing the henchman wasn't enough. Now, there was only one thing that could give him peace.

He had to kill Henry Lin.


	5. Shadow War

The next day, Jax and Chibs met with Marks at the construction sight of Charming Heights. Despite what Alvarez had said about Jax being irrelevant for Marks now, it had been pretty easy to set up the meet. Marks seemed to be as friendly as ever when Jax told him about the deal he had brokered between the Irish and Lin. "Can the Irish handle the additional demand?" he asked.

"Yeah, the Chinese just need some Glocks and AKs," Jax said. He had not intended for this deal to really happen but was glad it had. It gave him some trust with Lin he could use. "That's nothing for the IRA and shouldn't be any unwanted competition for you. Lin will sell them to the triads who will use it down south, away from our backyard. My hope was that it would keep the peace with Lin and make him more comfortable with the idea of you being gun king." He smiled. "And I really needed the brokering fee now we are out of guns."

Marks smiled. "That's the price for your peace of mind, Jackson. Anyways, I like it. It will make us all one happy family. Of course, I need a heads-up should the Irish start selling Lin all the good stuff."

"Of course," Jax said. "But trust me, it will never happen after his uncle pulled."

"Good to know." Marks grew serious again. "Any news yet on what happened to your wife?"

Jax considered his answer carefully. He could point Marks towards Lin but he couldn't know how Marks would react. If Marks didn’t back him, telling him could be very dangerous. And if he would, well, Jax could always claim he had found out later. "Nothing yet."

"If I can do anything to help, just tell me," Marks said.

"Thanks," Jax replied, new hope in his heart. With Marks’s help, crushing Lin would be easy.

"But when you find out whoever was behind this, the retaliation can't hit the street, not right now at least. We are in a delicate transition period and need peace for that. Any retaliation would bring a lot of heat – both from other gangs and the law – which we just can’t afford right now. We need time for things to cool off."

Jax hoped his face remained steady and neutral but inside he was boiling with rage. Had Marks really just told him to ignore his wife's murder so he could make more money? He should put a bullet into his stupid face right now for just suggesting that! "That might be difficult, August."

Marks gave him a sympathetic smile. "I know, Jackson. But if I have learned anything from Mr. Pope, it was the virtue of patience. Even if your heart wants vengeance now, you will be happy that you waited. Trust me, it will be better for everyone involved. And we will make the retaliation worth the wait."

Jax forced a smile at that. "I will keep it in mind."

*   *   *   *   *

"So what do we do now?" Bobby asked as they sat down in Chapel later. "Do we prepare for Chinese blowback?"

"Happy and Tig got rid of the body," Chibs said. "There is nothing that connects us the disappearance."

"Only that he disappeared from our party," Juice said. "And Lin already doesn't trust us. He would be an idiot not to suspect us."

"Maybe we can pin it on somebody else," Bobby mused. "This way we contain it and avoid further bloodshed."

Jax shook his head. "I don’t want to contain it. We got the assassin but the true murderer of my wife is still out there – Lin. He has to pay for that as well."

"So what's the plan?" Tig asked.

"We will destroy his organization bit by bit, leave him broken, desperate and alone. Once this has happened I will come in and offer him a helping hand. And once I am in his inner circle I will tell him it was me who did all this to him. Then I will kill every single person that means something to him. I will leave him stewing in his misery for a while and then I will end him as well, as painfully as possible. Then I will sleep easily, knowing I have avenge my wife."

It felt surprisingly good to say the words. The plan was comforting on a level that was disturbing. It focused him, grounded him, gave him something to do. It seemed to be less effective for the others in the room if the shocked silence was any indication. Happy was nodding eagerly as if this was completely normal but everyone else was wide-eyed and gave each other worried looks. "This is...some serious retribution, brother," Chibs said.

"I know," Jax said. "But it is what I have to do."

"I know your pain, Jax, and I loved Tara but this is insane," Bobby said. "It would be the biggest war SAMCRO has ever been in. I am not even sure if we could take on the Chinese on their own and with all the heat it would bring the law will be on our asses as well. We have to be smart about this."

"I am being smart about it," Jax replied. "If we pull this off right, Lin will never know what hit him. He will strike at smokes and mirrors while the real threat is right in front of him. We will have him crippled before he even realizes what is going on."

"A week ago you were trying to move SAMCRO to legit business," Bobby replied. "What you are doing now would pull is into the completely opposite direction. We would be neck deep in the biggest gang war this charter has ever seen. Even if we get through this one intact we don't know what the field will look like afterwards. We might be the ones out of friends then. One war could bleed right into the next one and SAMCRO would be the very opposite of what you wanted."

Jax did his best not to rip Bobby’s head off. "I know what I wanted and I still have this dream for SAMCRO. But there is a time for dreams and time for action. We can't sit back and get sucked off by our porn girls while Lin is out there! And it is naive to think that we have a choice. Lin either wanted to hurt my by killing my wife or he wanted to take me out and Tara just was at the wrong place at the wrong time. Both would be a reason for war."

"Why should Lin keep everything quiet?" Juice asked. "If he wants war, why not just do a drive-by at the clubhouse? This would at least take out some of the members and give him the upper hand. Murdering Tara didn’t get him anything but our attention."

"I don't known," Jax said. "Maybe he is afraid Marks will back us up. He strikes at us in secret to avoid a two-front war. It doesn’t matter anyways. The fact is, we already are at war and I will make damn we win ti and Lin pays for what he did. I told you my plan and I believe we can do it. The only question is if you guys believe it as well."

"I'm with you, pres," Happy said immediately. The others looked thoughtful, as if waiting for somebody else to speak.

"Will Marks back us up?" Ratboy asked. "We could use his help against Lin."

Jax shook his head. "He wants us to be patient. Not make a stir. We can't rely on his help and we have to expect that he will be pissed when he learns we have made a move. Maybe he will even strike against us like Pope did."

"You think this could happen?" Tig asked.

"Probably," Chibs answered for him. "And it will be bad. It would be one thing if he hadn't said anything. But now that he has practically forbidden us me to do anything, he will take any action as a serious betrayal. We have to prepare for this."

Jax looked at everybody. "I know I am asking a lot here but we have been through more difficult times together and this time we will have the advantage of stealth. I believe we can win this war with minimal damage if we play it right. I just need to know that you are with me. All in favor?"

Some hands – Chibs’s, Juice's and Happy's – shot up immediately, others took some time to rise. Bobby hesitated uncomfortably long but in the end of the day the vote was unanimous. But Jax did not delude himself. He never would have won this vote without Tara’s death whipping everybody up and this loyalty would not last forever. He would have to give them some quick wins to keep them on course. He was certain that he could pull this off but he could not afford division in the ranks while he did it. "Okay, I have something in mind for our first step. I will set it up and keep you posted. That's it for now. Juice, stay for a moment, I want a word."

Juice looked very worried at this prospect and Jax did his best to give him a reassuring smile.

*   *   *   *   *

Chibs needed a drink after this meeting. He got some scotch from the bar when Bobby joined him. "What do you think the two are discussing in there?"

"Hell if I know," Chibs said. "Jackie is playing this on pretty close to the chest. Could be about the overdose, I think Happy mentioned them speaking to Lyla yesterday."

"Shit," Bobby said. "This is all my fault."

Chibs raised an eyebrow. "How? Did you shove the pills down his throat?"

"No but I might as well have. After Clay I knew he was upset but I just told him to take some oxy and get his dick sucked. Which I guess he both did."

"Not sure he got to the dick-sucking part," Chibs said grimly. "The idiot probably passed out before that."

Bobby looked at him in surprise. "What is going on between you two? You used to be one of his closes friends."

"That was before he played me for a fool. I did everything to help him and he didn’t even have the guts to tell me what was wrong with him."

"Can you really blame him? The boy was terrified of anyone finding out and for good reason. Look what Jax made him to do to earn it back. And even now he wouldn't be welcomed back if everybody knew what had happened. He was scared, Chibs. We do strange things when we are scared. Like you making the deal with Stahl when Jimmy threatened your family."

"That's completely different," Chibs snarled. "I was trying to protect Fiona and Kerrianne, I did not pull it through. And I most certainly did not kill a member to save my own sorry hide."

"Look, brother, Juice is not going anywhere with Jax protecting him. Maybe not even without him. The three of us are in so deep on this, I doubt we can ever tell the club the truth. You should try to forgive the boy. Everyone can see how hard this is for him."

Chibs did not meet his eyes. He knew Juice had probably been through a lot and could use a break – even Jackie had forgiven him – but he could not switch off his feelings just like that. The truth was that he felt betrayed by Juice and he did not trust him. He wasn’t sure when this feeling would get away – if ever. He knew, however, that he did not want to talk about it. "Speaking of tortured boys. What is your take on Jackie's plan?"

"My first impression was that it is insane," Bobby said, accepting the change of topics. "Taking on Lin who is currently allied with the Mayans is risky. Doing the same with Marks telling us to keep quiet is nearly suicidal."

"We don't have a choice. If Lin murdered Tara we already are at war. And you can't expect Jackie to just ignore Tara's death."

Bobby sighed. "That's why I voted for it. If Jax is right, there is no way we don’t get bloody. I just hope he knows what he is doing. One mistake and we will be in serious trouble."

"Ah, I wouldn't worry about that. Jackie has handled Clay, the cartel, Pope…if anyone can pull it off, it is him."

"Yeah, but it is different this time – personal, even more so than with Clay. You heard him in there, he was almost foaming at the mouth with the prospect of torturing Lin. That's pretty disturbing."

Chibs wasn't too worried. Jax had been in a similar state after Opie's death or when battling with Clay and it all worked out fine. But he didn't know how to word this without Bobby getting worried about him too. He was spared from answering by the door to the chapel opening. Jax and Juice came out. The president placed one kiss on the top of Juices’ head who seemed just giddy with the attention. Chibs turned his head in disgust. What the hell had this foolish boy done now that Jackie was over the moon again? Killed someone? Or just sucked his dick? This was another part of the arrangement that bothered him. It wasn't just the personal insult of jerking him around, he also didn't like that Jax had a personal agent who did the really dark stuff behind everyone’s back. The boy already had the annoying tendency to make important decisions alone and not always for the best of the club – the trouble with the Irish showed that. Chibs would have to keep a very close eye on this arrangement. Jackie going off on his own could get the all killed.

Jax walked over to them. "Lyla confirmed Juice's story. I just told him that he is officially back in the club."

Chibs felt his eyes on him and guessed the reason. "Fine with me. We have more important things to worry about, anyways. What are we going to do with Lin?"

The dangerous glimmer in Jax's eyes told him the boy already had something in mind.

*   *   *   *   *

The plan was insane, Juice was absolutely sure of it. He got that Jax wanted to get even for Tara, he really did, but there had to be another way. Taking on Lin in some weird cloak-and-dagger shadow war was one thing but raiding a drug deal between him and the goddam triads with just the surprise factor was suicidally reckless – and he should know given his tendency for suicide attempts. Yet here he was, crouching behind cover and waiting for the signal to strike.

During the staged welcome-party Connor had apparently come to an agreement with Lin about selling them some surplus guns – mostly minor stuff. Juice wasn’t sure if that had been Jax’s intention from the start but it turned out to be very useful now. Connor was feeding them all the information about the trades he did with Lin and even had uncovered what the Chinese gang leader wanted to do with them: Apparently he did not need them himself but rather oversold the hardware to some Chinese triads who would pay him in heroin. And Jax intended to crash this meeting. Finding out the location hadn’t been difficult with the information from Connor and some careful tailing of Lin’s most important officers. Jax had chosen this meet as their first strike against Lin. They would go in, kill everyone and take the shipment for themselves. It would damage Lin’s operation, impact his relationship to the triads and get them some hardware and money – win, win, win and win. But first they would have to actually get the shipment.

Jax relied on the moment of surprise to give them the edge they needed for the fight. He, Chibs and Happy would approach with a truck and the moment everyone focused on the truck, Juice and the others would jump into action. Juice did not like this plan very much. Yes, they had managed to form a rough semi-circle which would give them a nice angle of attack and they had KG-9s while the Chinese seemed to be mostly armed with regular Glocks but a lot could go wrong. He especially did not like Jax being that exposed – without him this whole operation would likely collapse and Juice needed him to keep the rest of the club happy. Happy hadn’t liked it either but Jax had brushed off his concern. Maybe he just wanted to lead from the front but it was more recklessness that just rubbed Juice the wrong way.

Yet Jax really seemed confident about this move and Juice wasn’t sure what to make of that. Maybe Jax was just play-acting or he was so far off the deep end that he did not even see the insane risks anymore – a very unsettling thought given they had just sworn to follow him into this war. Still, denying him had never been an option. Juice was too grateful to be back in the club's good graces to bump heads with Jax Besides, they had all voted for it, even Bobby who had been reluctant at first. Juice guessed that the whole dead wife thing really helped motivating everyone to follow Jax to hell and back. It seemed like Tara’s death had given Jax even more power over the club than ever before. It made Juice wonder if Jax maybe had taken out Tara after all. It was unlikely but there was more than enough motive and Juice knew better than to underestimate Jax’s ruthlessness.

In the end, though, all this didn't matter. His path was clear – help Jax succeed by whatever means necessary and live to tell the tale. He tried to calm himself with the thought that Jax had taken out Pope as well which had also seemed completely impossible at first. Maybe he would managed to do the same trick twice. He saw the truck approaching and steeled himself.

At the sign they all got out of cover and opened fire immediately. The Chinses and the triads were too surprised to offer much resistance and most of their guys were down in seconds. It was easy to pick off the rest afterwards. When the situation seemed stable Juice moved closer with Jax and the others, always vigilant for more dangers. Holy shit, they had done it! Jax had been right after all. Juice could hardly believe it but they had won the fight completely unscathed. He would hug Jax if there weren’t people watching.

They passed the Chinese officer who was making the exchange. He was bleeding for a wound to his stomach but was still alive for the time being. Juice regretted that Lin had not made the exchange himself, they could have ended all this in one swift strike. "What the hell are you doing, Teller?" the Chinese snarled when Jax came into view. They had all taken off their cuts but Juice guessed Jax was easy to recognize anyway. "This will start a war"

"The war is already on," Jax replied smoothly, taking the suitcase of heroin from the dead triad member a few feet away. Juice felt a sudden burst of longing when the president opened it and showed them the white powder. Than he quashed the thought. Drugs were not the answer, he had learned that the hard way.

"Get the guns," Jax said to Quinn and Montez. "Sweep for survivors and finished them all. Nobody must trace this back to us."

"You want this one for yourself, boss?" Happy asked, gesturing towards the Lin’s man.

Jax pondered this for a moment and Juice though he could see a truly hungry look on his face – though it was hard to tell with Jax wearing sunglasses. "No, I will leave this one to Juice."

Him? Why him? He was closest, true, Jax was only a couple of steps away. Ah, of course. Jax was testing him, trying to figure out how back he really was – or maybe giving him a chance to prove it in front of the club. If he flinched now or complained later Jax would know he was still as unstable as before. It wasn’t exactly subtle but Juice guessed it worked. "As you wish," Juice said and raised his KG-9.

Juice expected remorse when he pointed the gun at the Chinese but he felt nothing at all. This wasn’t some innocent bystander, this was one of Lin's soldiers. He would do the same if the roles were reversed. Juice pulled the trigger and put two bullets into his head. The mess was considerable but he did not look away – he didn’t want to appear weak. He turned his head back to Jax when it was done. "All done."

Jax clapped him on the back. "Good work, Juice. Good work everyone."

"What are we going to do with the bodies?" Bobby said who didn’t look nearly as cheerful as Jax did.

"Leave them where they are," Jax said. "It’s too far from Charming to directly link it to us, so I don’t expect any trouble from the law, especially if we get rid of the guns. Leaving the bodies saves us some trouble and will help sending the right message to Lin. Get the guns and the heroin. I have great plans for them."

*   *   *   *   *

Jax wasn’t sure if he liked Charlie Barosky or not. He had been useful enough in the past but Jax couldn't shake the feeling that he was even less trustworthy than the other people in this business – which was ironic given that Barosky had been a cop.

"I am really sorry about your wife," Barosky said over donuts which Jax avoided but Happy was chugging like crazy. "My condolences."

"Thanks."

"I heard you are still looking for the killer," Barosky said. "If I can do anything to help, just tell me."

"I appreciate it but I got it handled," Jax said. "There is something else you might do for me, though."

"I hope it brings less heat than the last arrangements we had, Handsome Jack. I don't need that bitch Patterson breathing down my neck again."

"Don't worry, it shouldn’t bring you any trouble with the law," Jax said, hoping he sounded as convincing as he hoped. Truth be told, what he was asking Barosky to do could get both of them into serious trouble. "I just need some storage here in Stockton. Discreet, save from the cops and not connected to us in any way."

"Storage?" Barosky said. "What for?"

"Guns mostly, maybe some drugs."

"Jesus kiddo, I thought you were out of this business."

Jax smiled and flicked some ash from his smoke. "I was but that was before the Mayans decided to settle down here. We are good with them but I want to be prepared in case the peace does not last. I am sure you can relate."

"Of course, I can." Barosky said darky. "Those wetbacks showing up here means all kind of trouble for me. They have been playing nice until now but I know how these things turn out. They will get greedy, try to get a piece of the docks and I will have to clear them out. Or they make a grab for some other part of Stockton and my cop friends will ask me what the hell I am doing here. That shithead Oscar was here earlier, already acting like he owns the goddam place. If he tried to showed respect, he did even poorer job at it than you, Handsome Jack."

Jax took the jab in stride. "Yeah, icing some Persians rarely makes a good impression."

"Iranians."

"If you say so," Jax replied. "So what about that warehouse we need?"

"I got something that might fit. How much space do you need? It has almost 200 square meters."

"That's more than enough," Jax replied. "It is safe? Has to be off-the-books too. No way to connect it to us."

"Of course it is safe," Barosky said. "I still own this part of Stockton, remember? And discretion is my specialty, provided the money is good."

Jax reached into his cut and pulled out an envelope with money. "How about that?"

Barosky counted it quickly. "This is more than I expected."

Jax grinned. "That's because I need something very special."

*   *   *   *   *

It wasn't hard to track Wendy down. The junkies whore had apparently checked out of rehab after just a few days and Gemma really shouldn’t be surprised about that. Hopefully Wendy wasn't too wasted, Gemma had gotten used to the idea of having some help with the kids and Wendy was better than the Crow Eaters at least. She wasn’t Tara or even Lyla but at least she was motivated. And she had some answers Gemma was looking for. So she went to Wendy's shithole of an apartment for the second time in a few days and banged on the door. "Wendy? It’s me. Open up."

To Gemma's surprise, Wendy opened almost immediately. She looked tired but not obviously high. Maybe she hadn’t fallen off the wagon yet. "What do you want?"

"Nice to see you as well," Gemma said, walking through the open door before Wendy could stop her. Her eyes lingered on the couch she had last seen Juice on and she had to suppress as shiver. She had been so sure that the guy was dead. His breaths had become shallower and shallower and when she had left he had barely been breathing at all. How could he have bounced back from that? She really should have smothered him or stayed till the end but she hadn’t been able to. She noticed Wendy looking at her and pulled herself back into the present. "I heard you were out of rehab. Wanted to come over and drag your ass back inside if need be."

"What you are concerned for me now?" Wendy asked, looking suspiciously at her.

"You remember the conversation we had a couple a days ago? About me needing help with Tara out of the picture and you being the best choice? Well, this is still on, sweetheart. In fact, I need help more than ever with Tara dead. So yeah, I am concerned about you. You can self-destruct on your own time, not when your son needs you."

"I am not self-destructing, I am still clean and I want to stay that way."

Gemma raised an eyebrow. "Why aren’t you in rehab then? I thought you swore on this shit?"

"I do but with I just can’t disappear with everything that happened," Wendy said, looking conflicted. "How is Jax? How are the kids?"

"The boys are fine," Gemma said. "Jax is about as well as one can expect. You haven't talked to him yet?"

"No, I wasn't sure how he would react when I just showed up like that. We haven’t been on the best terms in the past. I wasn't sure if I was welcome."

"Don’t worry, I will talk to Jax. You can help me with Abel and Thomas. He is out on club shit all the time and somebody has to watch the boys when I am not around."

"I would like that," Wendy said. "Thanks."

"I am only helping myself, darling," Gemma said, thinking that too much kindness would seem suspicious. "I am not getting any younger."

"I can't argue with that", Wendy said. "But thanks anyway."

"I heard you had a run-in with Juice the other day," Gemma said, thinking it was time to move on to the real part.

Wendy turned suspicious again. "Gemma, I don't want to get into the middle of some club beef."

"No beef here. Juice is fine and back with the club. I just worry about him and want to know what exactly happened. He says he doesn't remember anything and somebody has to look out for him."

"Yeah, probably," Wendy said. "I mean, I am the last own to cast stones about drugs but the guy was a mess. I found him half-dead on my couch, barely breathing. Took him almost an entire day in the hospital to wake up again and even longer until we could make sense of what has happened. And the moment he was on his feet again he took off without an explanation. I don't even know how the hell he got into my apartment. I sure as hell didn't give him a key but there was no sign of a break-in."

"No idea," Gemma said, "but Juice always was pretty resourceful. Maybe he got a hold of a key somehow or picked the lock. He told you too that he doesn't remember anything?"

"Yeah and I still have no idea if it is bullshit or not. My first instinct was that he was lying to protect the club but the doctor who treated him said it could be a real side-effect of an overdose. And Juice seemed pretty worried about it, so he either really is amnesic or he is just a good actor. Does Jax know anything? Juice probably wouldn't lie to him, right?"

Gemma wasn't sure about that but it at least would be very risky. "I don't know. Jax doesn't tell me that club stuff. As far as I know, Juice sticks to his story."

"Sounds bad," Wendy said. "He didn't even seem to know what made him take the drugs. That doesn’t bode too well for the recovery."

"Well, he seems fine now but it is hard for me to tell. Maybe you can help him a bit. One junkie to the other."

Wendy smiled at that. She was easy to figure out. She wanted nothing more than to be a mother to Abel and by extension to other lost people like Juice. Gemma would respect that if she weren't sure that Wendy was too weak for this role. But she would do for the time being. More important was the fact that Juice's story seemed to check out. He could also be very committed to the lie but she considered that unlikely. To pull this off, he would have to wake up from his overdose with the lie already in his head. Why would he do that? To hide what had happened? No, he didn’t deny the overdose, he just denied the part with Tara and Roosevelt. And this did not gain him anything. Either Juice was acting completely irrationally or he really couldn’t remember a thing. In which case she should probably do nothing. She didn't want to make anyone suspicious. This had been her mistake with Tara and Maureen Ashby’s letters. If she had left this one alone, the situation with Clay never would have escalated.

She quashed the thought before it became too painful. What mattered was that she had learned from it. She would leave Juice alone for the time being. There was still Roosevelt but she didn't worry too much about him. He was comatose for days now and every minute he stayed that way decreased the chances he would ever wake up again. Probably they would pull the plug soon. Besides, Jax had already gotten his revenge. She wasn't really in the loop but she was certain that he had killed the Chinese yesterday. With blood spilled, he would feel better soon and then everything would be normal again. Things would go up now, she was sure of it.

*   *   *   * *

After the meeting with Barosky, Jax and the others visited the warehouse where the porn production was already ramping up. Lyla was in charge, ordering everyone around and making sure the equipment was set up correctly. Some of the talent was already here, bent over sheets of paper which were probably scripts. "How's it going?" Jax asked Lyla.

"Good, this place is great," she answered. "I mean I could live without the memories but it looks much better without all the torture stuff. We are just rehearsing for Catholic School Sluts."

Jax grinned at the name. He could appreciate a schoolgirl fetish. And it was good to unwind after all the killing earlier. "You writing the scripts?"

"Yeah, but I am open from input from you guys," Lyla said. "We have to consider the male perspective as well, after all."

"I might have some ideas," Tig started. "We could..."

"No, Tig," Jax said.

"You didn't even listen to what I had to say."

"I know you well enough to make sure that you and Happy will have no porn input. We want to build a brand here, not do fetish porn."

"We should probably branch out from lesbian than," Juice mused. "More genres mean more money, if we can get the right talent."

Jax raised an eyebrow. "You trying to get some action here?"

"Well, I might have some use for him," Lyla said, her eyes moving up and down Juice's body. "Biker porn would be something new at least."

Juice in the meantime was thinking further. "We might also consider gay porn."

Several of the others protested at that. "What?" Juice asked, "I am just trying to think out of the box here. There is a lot of money involved there."

"You volunteering, Juicy?" Chibs asked, a rather menacing expression on his face.

An unusually determined expression spread on Juice’s face. "I would take a dick for the club, Chibby, even if it is just to make some money. Jax and I would definitely make for some quality entertainment. You should probably watch. You might learn something about loyalty and how to deal with unpleasant tasks."

"Getting fucked be me is never unpleasant," Jax said, intervening before the situation could escalate. He grinned. "If you can handled the size, that is."

Bobby groaned. "Always the dick-bragging with you. I thought it was just a thing between you and Ope."

"Hey, it is not my fault you haven’t seen your dick in years, Bobby. You even sure it is still there?"

"Guys, I am trying to work here," Lyla said, though she had a grin on her face. "Either help or get out. But for the record, I am open to branching out. Just give me the script and I will see what I can do." She winked at Jax and Juice. "And I am sure we could work with the two of you. Maybe we start with Juice as the bottom and switch things up from time to time."

"Okay, I am going to need veto power over all scripts," Jax said when the rest of the guys started laughing. "I well get back to Charming. Tig, Rat. You guys stay and help out Lyla. The rest is with me."

Just when he was getting back on his bike outside, he heard footsteps approaching – high heels from the sound of it. He turned his head and saw Ima approaching. Chibs scowled at here and she held up her arms in surrender. "I just want to talk."

"Talk then," Jax said.

"I just wanted to say that I am grateful for getting the chance to work," Ima said. "And I am really sorry about Tara."

Jax found that hard to believe but he would take all the sympathy he could get. "Thanks. Truth be told, after what has happened I am a bit surprised you even showed up."

Ima shrugged. "I don't believe in grudges and I need the work. Besides, the boss is really hot."

"The boss also just lost his wife," Chibs commented from the side. "I would back off, if I were you."

"I am just stating the obvious," Ima said with mock innocence. "I guess I will see you guys around."

Chibs shook his head. "Stupid gash, coming onto you like that. You should have knocked her teeth in."

Jax didn't think so. He knew Ima's advances were tactless at best but some part of him couldn’t help feeling pleased by them. Which brought a new wave of guilt which Jax really could have lived without. He sighed and started his bike. Hopefully his head would clear on the road.

*   *   *   *   *

The last days had not been kind to Tyne Patterson. She was going nowhere with the Knowles case which had also gotten the attention of the media by now. She would need to give the public a suspect quickly or the waves of outrage would push her out of office, regardless if she managed to solve the case in the end or not. The problem was that she had no lead. Tara’s autopsy had revealed nothing new, leaving her without any options. This was part of the reason she was here at Teller Morrow.

The garage had been patched up those last weeks but the damage done by the IRA was still obvious Patterson could see the ruins of the old clubhouse further in the building. She wished the Sons would move back here soon. She would rather have her evil contained where she could have an eye on it than it sprouting all over town. Despite the Sons’s sketchy reputation there were a couple of cars in the lot for the mechanics to work on. Patterson wondered who still was doing business with TM. Their prices had to be great for people to look the other way or they were just really good mechanics. The actual Sons were nowhere but she was looking for somebody else anyways.

It was easy to find the run-down trailer in the middle of the yard. In her opinion, a sad end for an on old cop. Unser may have been crooked but she understood why he had gone down that road. He had made a deal with the bad guys to contain the damage. He wasn't like Barosky who only wanted to line his pockets. Pity Unser's strategy had failed in the end, leaving Charming bleeding and him a washed-up wreck dependent on the club's mercy. She saw him standing in front of his trailer, enjoying what was probably a joint. She approached him. "Good morning, Mr. Unser. I am District Attorney Tyne Patterson. Maybe you remember me."

"I do. We ran a couple of cases maybe ten years back."

She nodded. "Simpler times."

"If you are looking for Jax, he is not here. The guys meet at the ice cream shop now. He could also be in Stockton."

Which probably meant that he either already had retaliated against whoever he thought responsible for Tara’s murder or he was getting around to it. She really needed a break here before a gang war swallowed them all. "That’s quite alright. I wanted to talk to you anyways."

Unser frowned. "You did? I already gave my statement about what happened to Tara, just like the club."

"Yes, and yours was just as useless as the others. Nobody has seen anything or heard anything which I find hard to believe."

"I don't know if the guys are lying to you but I really do not know anything," Unser said. "If I did, I would help."

She raised an eyebrow. "Really? Because it seems like we are not on the same side this time."

This seemed to strike a chord. "Hey, I too want to find out what has happened to Tara. She didn’t deserve this."

"Then help me, Wayne. I am getting nowhere without any lead! Do you want to leave justice for Tara in Jax's hands? Do you think she would appreciate him shooting up gangsters in her name? Hell, I am not even sure he didn't kill her himself!"

"Jax would never do that," Unser said immediately. "He was crushed when he heard about the divorce but he wasn't angry. I don't think there is anything he couldn’t forgive here."

Interesting. She was certain that Unser knew something and he was definitely the weakest link in the chain. If she could get him on her side, she would get the information she needed for the investigation. She could not afford to screw this one up. She owed it to the public and she owed to Tara. She never should have used her as a bargaining chip against the MC. "And this is why I need you. I need someone with insight into the club. You could be my consultant. Maybe together we can clear this up before more blood is spilled. Justice will be served and Jax can be the father the boys need instead of a gangster."

"I can't just tell you club secrets," Unser said, looking around. "The guys..."

"The club never has to know. And I only need something to put me in the right direction. Nothing about the club."

"I…I have to think about it."

"You do that," Patterson said, sure that she had him. "But please answer me one question: Juan Carlos Ortiz. Is he back yet? He was unavailable when the first interviews were conducted".

"Yeah, he is back," Unser said. "Though I doubt he will know anything."

"Tell him he needs to give a statement," Patterson said, turning to leave. "Oh, and please inform Jax that we are done with Tara’s body. He can have her buried any time now."

*   *   *   *   *

For once, Jax managed to be home early enough to see his kids. The boys were finally coming home and it felt good to have them back. The house seemed less empty this way and it was easier to look his boys in the eye now that he knew he was avenging their mother. Gemma and Juice had joined him. Gemma because she brought the kids, Juice because Jax was not supposed to be alone and Happy was needed at the clubhouse. Jax finished tucking Abel in and went down to others in the living room. Juice was lying on the couch, looking exhausted. The day had worn on Jax as well but he has a small sliver of satisfaction inside that made all this worth it. His mom looked as strong as ever, as if those hard times just fell off her.

"I think I will miss them," she said. "But it is good that they are back. They need their father."

"Yeah," Jax said, uncomfortable aware of how little he had seen his kids those last days. Truth be told, he was surprised Gemma had not chewed him out for that.

"Wayne tell you what Patterson said?" Gemma asked.

Jax nodded. "Surprised she didn't tell me in person."

"Guess that one was beneath her pay grade," Gemma said. "We should bury Tara soon. I don't want her rotting in some cooler."

Jax nodded. The thought of burying the love of his life was hard to bear and he tried not to think about it too much. "Could you handle it? I am neck deep in club shit."

"Of course, baby. I will take care of everything. You want it big or small?"

"Big," Jax said. "Tara deserves as much."

Gemma nodded. "I will make it happen."

"Thanks, mom," Jax said. "Sometimes I wondered what I would do without you."

She smiled before become serious again. "I have something to ask you as well. I talked to Wendy earlier."

"Wendy? Why?"

"I wanted to make sure she is not dead," Gemma said. "Seems like she is doing alright. She asked me if she can help take care of the kids."

Jax sighed. "I don't want to deal with some custody grab right now, Ma, and Abel doesn't need any confusion."

"I know, baby. Which is why it is best to indulge her. We keep her busy so she stays quiet. I promise I will keep an eye on her. Come on, it will give me some more time to plan the funeral."

"Alright," Jax said grudgingly. "Just keep her in line. One crazy mom to the other."

She smacked his arm playfully. Jax just grinned at her. "I will head out. See you two tomorrow."

When she was gone, Jax sat down on the couch next to the Juice. "You look tired, Juice. Sure you want to take the shift? Maybe Rat can cover for you."

"No, I'm good," he said. "Would be too wound-up to sleep anyway."

"You did well, today. Good job handling the Chinese."

Juice smiled and it lit up his whole face. Jax was always surprised how much Juice wanted his approval. It was a good sign but some doubt remained. "I hope it won't be a problem."

Juice shook his head. "No. He was just a soldier. Kill or be killed."

"You sure? Things might not always be that clear."

"I am. You don't have to worry about me. I know I fucked up with Darvany but I won’t let that happen again. And why do you only worry about me? What about Bobby? He could get cold feet anytime. Or Tig? Look at what damage he has caused in the last months! He is constantly acting without thinking and gets everyone in trouble. He is the reason we had Pope on our ass! Hell, he got Opie killed. But I am the one who has to justify himself while he is still safely sitting at the table?"

Jax felt his mood darken at the thought. Tig had slipped his mind in those last days but now he felt the old rage bubble up again. It was hard to deny. If Tig had not killed Pope's daughter by mistake, they would have never met Pope and Opie would still be alive. Jax doubted Ope would be part of SAMRCO after all what had happened but it would definitely beat him being dead. Maybe Jax would not be that alone this way. And Tig had never been properly punished for his recklessness. Maybe...no, he couldn't afford any distractions now. He noticed Juice staring at him and focused back on the presence. "Don't worry about Tig. The important part is that that you are close, Juice. Soon Lin will be dead and I will forget everything I know about you and Miles. You will be back in the club for good and things can go back to normal."

The hope was obvious at Juice's face. "Thanks Jax. I appreciate you sticking up for me."

"You are welcome." He was distracted by his phone ringing. He picked up. "Yeah?"

"It's Nero, Jax. Lin just reached out to me. Somebody hit a trade between him and the triads and killed all his men. He suspects you."

Nero. Once again right in the middle of the Stockton pile-up. Jax still hated it. "I didn't even know of any trade. And why would I attack Lin when we just made peace with him?"

"I don't know, mano. It doesn't make sense to me either. The deal was guns for heroin and you guys deal in neither. I tried to reason with Lin but he insists that it had to be you or the Irish. But why would the Irish hit the delivery of their own guns? Doesn’t make any goddam sense either."

"Okay. Don't worry, I will handle Lin. Give me a meet with him tomorrow and we will see if we can figure it out."

"Alright," Nero said. He hesitated for a moment. "You have to be honest with me here, hermano. Did you have anything to do with it?"

"Of course not, Nero. I am trying to get SAMCRO out of guns, remember? Why would I start a street war with a gang that has nothing that I want?"

"I don't know, mano," Nero said, sounding weary. "I just hope Lin sees reason."

"Don't worry, we will figure things out. See you tomorrow."

He hung up. Juice looked at him expectantly. "Everything alright?"

"Just as planned," Jax said. "I am going to bed. You stay awake and keep watch. There is more than enough coffee to get you through the night. You can get some rest in the morning."

"Alright. Night, Jax."

"Night, Juice. I am glad I can count on you."

Jax slept well this night, knowing that Lin would soon get what was coming for him.


	6. Burial

Jax woke the next day feeling better than he had in days. It seemed like having something to do really worked wonders on his state of mind. He put on an undershirt, boxers, his jeans and some socks and went down to find Juice. He expected to find him passed out on the couch – or possibly on the floor – but the Puerto Rican was still awake – if noticeably tired – and sitting at the kitchen table. "Morning Jax."

"Morning," Jax said, rather impressed despite himself. "Any problems?"

"No, nothing," Juice said, passing him a mug. "Here."

"Coffee?" Jax asked.

"Tea. I drank too much coffee already," Juice said with a smile.

Jax took a sip and was surprised to find green tea – he didn't even know he had this stuff in the house. It tasted better than he had expected. "It's good."

"Thanks. Took me some time but I now know how to make one properly. Depends on the water temperature you see and..." He yawned. "Sorry."

"You should get some sleep, Juice. I got it handled and you really deserve a nap."

Juice nodded. "You heading out?"

"As soon as I have fed of the boys. Lots of stuff to do. Gemma will come around to take care of them."

"What should I do?"

"Sleep first. Then get to TM or the clubhouse."

"I thought I might give Patterson my statement," Juice said. "Contain this situation before she gets too close to the truth."

Jax had not thought of this. "Might be a good idea. I don't need her snooping around."

"What should I say?"

"The usual," Jax said. "You know nothing and have no idea who might have done this to her. Might throw in a couple of lines that I would never do something like that just in case."

"You wouldn't," Juice said. "I mean you even wanted to go to prison for her."

"We both know that but Patterson doesn't. Maybe she still considers me her suspect. Can't help to throw some more doubt."

"Does she know about the overdose? Should I tell her?"

"Don't know if she does but since you were at the hospital it won't be hard to find out. Just stick to the truth. Since you don't remember anything, you can’t tell her shit."

Juice nodded. "Okay, I will swing by the Sherriff station this afternoon."

"Okay, I will go wake the boys."

When he got down again, Jax found Juice lying on the couch, soundly asleep. He smiled and put a blanket over him.

*   *   *   *   *

Jax first stop this morning was the clubhouse to reconnect with the club. Most of the members were already there. "What's the situation?" Jax asked Happy. "Everyone whole?"

Happy nodded. "Nothing to report, boss. If Lin wants to strike at us, he has not done it yet."

"Good."

"How are things at the house?" Happy asked. "The boys okay?"

"Yeah, Gemma has them in day care. I will try to spend some time with them later tonight, when I have the time."

"Where is Juice?" Chibs asked. "He coming?"

Jax grinned. "He passed out the moment he saw I was up. I left him on my couch to sleep it off. He will be up on his feet again this afternoon."

If Chibs found it strange that he let Juice sleep there he did not say it out loud. "So what are we doing with Lin?"

"We stick to the plan: no direct confrontation yet. If we spin it right, Lin will not know what we are doing until everything is ready."

"Shouldn't we call in other charters just in case?" Quinn asked. "Just so we are prepared."

Jax shook his head. "Too suspicious. We can’t deny any involvement if we are obviously preparing for war."

"That's pretty risky," Quinn said. "If he strikes, we will be unprepared."

"He won't," Jax said. "You have to understand, Lin is not at his best. His organization took quite a hit from Galen killing his uncle and now Marks is getting stronger by the minute. If he isn't stupid, he will fear Marks using the Irish guns to wipe him out and will try to prepare for that. He can’t afford a war with us that would leave him open to another attack. Given our ties, he would also have to expect that Marks would intervene should he attacks us. He can't risk that which should give us the angle we need."

"I hope that you are right, Jackie," Chibs said. "Nero called already. They set a meet in Stockton, near the local Mayan clubhouse there. Lin will be there. Alvarez too. They will have one guy with them, we are allowed to bring three."

Not the best odds but Jax guessed they could be worse. "Happy and me obviously. Do you want to come as well? Or do you want to stay here in case something happens?"

"I'm with you," Chibs said immediately. "If we don't come back, Bobby will take the reins."

"Is that realistic?" Ratboy asked, fear on his face.

"No," Jax said immediately. "Lin won't risk that and I doubt Alvarez would let them kill us just like that. If something happens, you get the other charters and try to convince Marks that we had nothing to do with raid. With any luck he will help us wipe Lin out. But as I said, it won't come to that."

He was absolutely certain he was right but some doubt lingered in their eyes. Well, he would convince them soon enough.

*   *   *   *   *

The meet was very similar to the one a couple of days ago where Jax had tried to build bridges between everyone. The mood couldn't be more different, though. Nero was looking tense and tired, Lin livid, Alvarez kept his face completely impassive. Oscar too seemed relaxed, even a bit bored. Jax tried to look serious but friendly. "Marcus, Oscar, Henry. I heard there might be some misunderstanding we have to get out of the way."

"Misunderstanding?" Lin roared. "You assholes attacked my truck! Killed my men! Stole my merchandise!"

"We did no such thing," Jax said calmly. It was much easier to keep his cool now that he knew Lin would get what he deserved. It was even exiting imaging all the horrible things Jax would do to him. Hopefully his glee didn’t show on his face. "I don't know who hit your truck but it was none of my guys."

"Bullshit. Only the Irish knew about this delivery. The must have told you and you hit the truck."

"The Irish don't sabotage their own deals," Jax said. "And neither do they tell me the details of their operation."

"That's right," Chibs supplied. "They play their cards close to their catholic vests."

"I didn't even know what you were doing with the guns. And even if I did, why should I sabotage this deal? I set it up, remember? What was the idea again? Guns for heroin?"

"Exactly," Lin said who seemed less sure of himself now.

"Why should I want this? I took great pain to get us out of guns and now I raid a delivery to get them back when I could just get the hardware from the Irish? And SAMRCO has never dealt with smack."

"But you have muled coke, ese," Alvarez said. "Not much of a stretch from there to heroin."

"Maybe but if I wanted into the drug business, I wouldn't do it by attacking another player and stealing his merchandise. I would need a pipeline of heroin, a way to sell it and the guns to protect the business. Why would I give up my gun pipeline under these circumstances?" He paused for dramatic effect and used the time to light a smoke. "Look boys, you can twist it all the way you want but there is no reason for SAMCRO to do anything like that. I'm not sure we could even pull off a hit like that. We took quite a beating those last months."

Silence fell after the statement. Alvarez was the first to speak. "Then who did it? The Irish?"

"I don’t know why they should do that," Jax said, "but they are known to do irrational things. As far as I know Connor is back in Ireland to meet with the Irish Kings. We can ask him when he is back."

"I can’t wait for that!" Lin shouted. "I was attacked here! I need to know who was behind this and I need my stuff back."

"What if Marks was involved?" Oscar asked. Everyone turned to face him. "I mean he is tight with the Irish and knew about the deal. Maybe he wants to push us out after all and all this peace talk was bullshit, so he could plan his first move."

Jax barely managed to suppress his smile. Yeah, this was more like it. Another direction for them to look, something that confirmed their worst fears. Marks was the perfect scapegoat. If they struck against him, Jax could swoop in and ally with Marks again. Together they would wipe the floor with Lin. But Marks would need a lot of motivation to strike and Jax could not push openly into this direction. It would raise suspicion both here and from Marks. "I don't know anything about that but I am not in Marks’s inner circle."

"Don’t expect to ever be again, ese," Alvarez said. "Marks doesn’t need you anymore. He will probably forget you soon."

Jax ignored the remark, it was an obvious response to Alvarez being passed over for the gun business. Also, it helped his cover. And he really wanted to seem weak and unthreatening at the moment. Lin shook his head. "I don’t get it. If Marks wanted to go to war, he would have done some already. Why the deception? He has the upper hand. Drawing the conflict out only gives us time to prepare for it."

"Then who was it?" Nero asked him.

"I don’t know," Lin said. "But I will find out. And I you better hope it doesn’t point to you, Teller."

He stood up and stormed off, his men right at his heels. "I guess he is a little bit stressed," Jax said, trying to appear unconcerned."

"Off his meds," Oscar said. "It is clear that none of us had anything to do with it."

"At least not most of us," Alvarez said. He turned to Jax. "Are you sure you had nothing to do with it, Jax?"

"Of course," Jax said, caught of guard by the question. "I already told you that we have no reason to do anything like that."

Nero and Oscar nodded at that but Alvarez didn’t seem convinced. "No rational one, maybe. But maybe this isn’t about business."

"What are you talking about?" Jax asked.

"Your wife," the Mayan said. "Maybe you blame Lin for her death and this is your retaliation. After all the trouble with hisuncle, it would be logical for you to think so."

Shit, this was way too close for comfort. Jax had to squash this idea before it got any more track. "I don't blame Lin for Tara's death. I already know who killed her."

Shocked silence fell at the table and he now had all eyes upon. "Who?" Nero asked, looking spooked.

"Me," Jax said simply.

The silence was complete at the table. "You?" Nero asked. "That doesn't make any sense, Jax."

"Doesn't it?" Jax asked. "Tara was trying to divorce me, take my kids. I could have let that slide but then she went to the DA. Made a deal to rat me and the club out. I tried to forgive her that too but past a certain point love doesn't mean shit. She ran, I caught up with her. I debated having her killed then but just couldn't do it. Later at home, we fought again. It escalated. I don't remember much of what happened afterwards but in the end she was dead. I had the club clean up after me but it was me who killed Tara. I wish it hadn't played out that way but I can’t change the past."

"But why didn't you tell anyone?" Alvarez asked. "This way everybody thinks you are still looking for the killer?"

"Why the hell wouldn’t I? Do you think knowing that I killed Tara is easy for me? Every time I look into the goddamned mirror it hits me again. You think I like that feeling, Marcus? Do you think I want to be known everywhere as the guy who iced his wife with a meat fork? Besides it would be stupid of me to do anything else with the DA still looking into Tara's murder. I am giving you a lot of trust by telling you this and I have to know it remains between us. This is just to make clear that I had nothing to do with the attack on Lin."

"Of course," Alvarez said. Nero just looked dazed.

"Thanks. I have to check on Colette and then get back to Charming, prepare Tara's funeral," Jax said. "You coming, Nero?"

Nero nodded and they said their good-byes. Chibs and the others followed. "You are being unusually quiet," Jax said to Nero.

"I am just trying to wrap my head around this," Nero said. "It can't be true Jax, you wouldn’t do something like that."

"I wish that were true, Nero. One of the few things I remember clearly is the feeling of her skulls breaking. It will haunt me to my grave. I wasn't play-acting when Patterson found my crying over Tara. If Chibs hadn't shown up to check on me, I never would have thought about clean-up. They would have arrested me immediately."

Nero glanced at Chibs who shrugged. "We need Jackie, I won’t let him go to prison for a mistake."

"I...I don't know what to make of that, mano."

"You don't have to know yet," Jax said. "Just remember that I had nothing to do with the attack on Lin. I am trying to keep the peace here, Nero. What happened to Tara is bad enough already, I don't need a gang war on top of it. And please, don't tell anyone about what I said, especially not my mom. She doesn’t know. I don't know how she would react if she did."

"Of course," Nero said, clearly uncomfortable. "I…I need some time alone. I guess, I will see you at Diosa."

Jax nodded and watched him climb into his car and driving away. Chibs spoke once Nero was out of sight. "That was one hell of lie."

"Yeah," Jax said. "It should keep them off our back for the time being. I am not sure if Lin is convinced but I should have sown enough doubt to stop him from striking against us. And I think Alvarez and Nero are on board. So even if Lin attacks us, we only have one enemy to take care off."

"I am not sure about Nero," Chibs said. "I think you might have scared him off."

"Maybe that would be for the best," Jax said. "I think our time together comes to a close. Just have to make sure it doesn't bleed over Diosa."

"Life really would be more simply without pussy."

Jax had to agree with him on this one.

*   *   *   *   *

Juice was nervous as hell when he went into the Charming sheriff’s station. Giving a statement was usually nothing to worry about, especially not if what you were saying was basically true – he really did not know anything about Tara’s death, at least not personally – but he guessed that this DA bitch Patterson was keeping an eye on this case and this worried him. She might not look like much but she had gotten Tara to flip on Jax and probably had a hand in Jax trying to sacrifice himself for his wife. An impressive achievement which spoke of an uncanny knack of getting into people's heads. And Juice did not want any more people in his head, it was full enough as it was. And he really didn't have the best track record as far as manipulative cops when. He would just stick to the bare minimum, say as little as possible and then get the hell out of there. The cops quickly led him to an interrogation room where Patterson was already waiting for him. She smiled at him when he entered. "Mr. Ortiz. I am District Attorney Tyne Patterson."

"I know who you are," Juice replied. "You have given us quite a bit of trouble these last weeks."

Patterson raised an eyebrow. "You can't really except me to just ignore what the club does. I am not Unser."

Yeah, but he could expect her not to be a manipulative bitch while doing it. Luckily, he did not voice this thought aloud. Pissing Patterson off would only make this more unpleasant. "You wanted to talk about Tara's death?"

"Yes, you are the only club member who hasn't given a statement yet. If you don't mind me asking, where were you during the day of her death and the days after? Nobody seemed to quite know where you were."

"I was on the road. I felt pretty stressed and long rides help with that," Juice said. He certainly wouldn't tell her about the overdose. It would only give him ammunition to use against him.

"Interesting," Patterson said. "Because I took the liberty to look into you a bit and it seems like you spent two days in St. Matthews in Lodi. An overdose in benzodiazepines, seems like a different kind of trip to me."

Right, Jax had warned him this might happen. Hospitals really asked way too many questions for people like him. Maybe he should have just told her the truth from the start but he didn’t feel comfortable with cops knowing something this personal about him – Eli had made sure of that. "Doesn't change anything. The fact is that I do not know anything about Tara's death."

"Maybe but the circumstances are interesting to me. Tell me, Mr. Ortiz, what made you take so many drugs? You don't seem like a junkie to me."

"Beats me, the overdose wiped my memory clean. I don’t remember anything about this evening, which is also the reason why I can't tell you anything about Tara."

"That's very disappointing and very convenient, Mr. Ortiz."

Juice shrugged. "It is the truth. I want justice for Tara as well but I can't help you if I don't know anything."

Patterson raised an eyebrow. "So you don't know anything about a gang war with the Chinese?"

Juice’s heart almost stopped. How the hell did she know that? He settled for what he hoped was a mildly surprised facial expression. "Why would we go to war with the Chinese? Or anyone for that matter? We are legit now, Jax should have told you."

"He did. I am not sure if I can believe it but we both know that this is not about money or gang turfs or whatever else gangs fight about. This is about Tara. Jax thinks that the Chinese killed her and will kill half of Oakland to avenge her. I can't let this happen."

Juice stopped wondering on how she knew all this and focused on the task at hand: Contain the damage. He couldn't admit any of this, it would put the club right in her crosshairs. "Jax wouldn’t do that, it would bring back all the heat we tried to shake loose. And why the hell would we give up our gun supply before starting a gang war?"

"Maybe because your boss is not thinking straight at the moment," Patterson said smoothly. "But it seems like this does not matter to the club. Blind loyalty rather than thinking logically about the situation. I get that Jax is too wound up about Tara to do the right thing but you are far enough from the damage to see the problems with the plan. From what I got from Eli Roosevelt you seem to know that the club isn't always right."

"He blackmailed me," Juice snarled immediately. "Used my father being black against me."

"He was just trying to do the best for the community."

Juice was surprised by this statement. He always got a bit of a black power vibe from her which didn't fit her acceptance of Eli using skin color as a weapon. Either she was good at compartmentalizing or he was wrong. In any case, it did not matter. He would never go down the road again. "I don't care what he wanted. I will never do something like that again and don’t even think you can blackmail me about it. The club knows everything."

"I am just trying to get you seeing the bigger picture. Do you really believe you can win this war, Juan Carlos? How many of you brothers will have to die for Jax to get his revenge? Will the club even survive more heat?"

All valid questions but Juice would not doubt Jax now. "Good thing we are not going to war then."

Patterson smiled. "Right. Well, in case you find yourself going to war, consider coming to me first. I can help get justice for Tara's murder. We will find the killer by the books and give him the punishment he deserves. Nobody dies and no innocent gets caught in the crossfire."

"I will keep it in mind," Juice said, surprised by her naiveté. Did she really think Lin left enough evidence lying around to get tied to the murder? Besides, the killer was dead now and without him there would be no link to the Chinese mob boss. "Can I go now?"

"For now, yes. Please tell Jax I will be in touch."

Juice left, feeling rather worried.

*   *   *   *   *

Patterson didn't have to wait long for Unser to enter her office. "What did he say?"

"Not much," the DA replied. "But my gut tells me you were right: They are at war with the Chinese. Which means it will be only a matter of time until the bodies pile up."

"So what do we do?"

"We keep digging I won't let Tara be avenged by some gangster bloodbath. Best case would be that we find something and arrest Lin before Jax can do too much damage. But we need a lead for that. I can't arrest Henry Lin on a whim or because Ortiz is making some suggestions. You have to find somebody in the club who is willing to talk. Otherwise this thing will escalated and eventually I will have to lock up Jax for whatever crimes he commits during his revenge."

Unser nodded. "I will see what I can do."

*   *   *   *   *

Charlie Barosky had given this phone call a lot of thought and was still not completely sure if he should do it. It could end up very profitable for him but it also exposed him to a level a risk he did not like. He was no spring chicken, after all, and he did not want his retirement cut short by a bullet between the eyes – which was quite likely if things went sideways here. But then again, the payout could be great and he liked to think himself as a strategist who did not shy away from a bit of risk. He took a deep breath and dialed. It didn't take long for them to pick up. "Yeah?" a gruff voice asked.

"This is Charlie Barosky. Give me Lin. I know where his guns are."

*   *   *   *   *

Checking Colettes place was more awkward than Jax had expected. He avoided Colette as much as he could – seeing her brought a new wave of guilt he could have lived without – but some interaction was unavoidable. Things were looking good here at least, whatever trouble plagued Stockton had passed this one by. Jax was uncomfortably aware that Colette would be first step for any retaliation his action caused in Stockton and this could get very ugly very fast. He would like to warn her but this was too risky – the news would travel fast and then it was only a question of time until it reached Lin. He was just getting ready to get back to Charming when his phone rang. "Yes?"

Barosky’s voice answered. "It's me Handsome Jack. You in the area?"

"Yeah, I just checked on Collette's place. What's up?"

"Something is happening at one of my warehouses. Seems like the Chinese and the Mayans are getting cozy there and it spells trouble to me. It's close to your porn warehouse, so you might want to check it out. Wouldn’t want it to blow back on you. I will text you the address."

"On my way," Jax asked. "Thanks for the heads-up."

"Always a pleasure, Handsome Jack."

It took Jax only half an hour to find the warehouse Barosky had mentioned. A big throng of Mayans and Chinese surrounded the entry and they did not look very relaxed. With only Chibs and Happy as backup, Jax was starting to feel outmatched here. Then he spotted Lin in the crowd who also saw him. "Teller. Get the hell down there and help me with those Mexicans."

Jax hesitated but then got off his bike and pulled off his helmet. If the Chinese wanted to attack him, he was screwed anyway so he guessed he should do his best not the look suspicious. He had nothing to hide, after all. Chibs and Happy followed him cautiously. "What’s going on?"

"I found my goddam merchandise," Lin said. "Or at least I would have, if that asshole was letting me see it."

The asshole in questions was Oscar, the Stockton Mayan leader. Alvarez was standing next to him. He looking angry but Oscar was beside himself. "I told you before, you chink puto, your stuff is not here!"

"My sources say otherwise," Lin snarled.

"Then your sources are wrong. We had nothing to do with the attack on you."

"Then you won't object to me searching your warehouse."

"I am not letting you touch our stuff!"

Lin pulled his gun. Weapons were quickly drawn around the board. Jax had to do something before he would become a bystander in a gang shootout. "Okay, everyone relax! If we start shooting now we will have both the cops and Barosky on our ass! Why don’t we just check what it is inside and put Henrys mind at ease? I also don't believe the Mayans had anything to do with it."

"Jax is right," Alvarez said whose odds of surviving this shoot-out were probably considerable worse than Jax's. "We have to be smart here."

"I am not letting him look through our merchandise!" Oscar said.

"You will do what I say before you get us all killed!" Alvarez hissed. "He will see that everything is empty and we will all go home. I am not going to war for your privacy."

Oscar looked pained at this and looked around for assistance. Jax nodded to him. "Just do it, bro. Fastest way we can all go home."

"Alright then," Oscar said. "But you putos better not touch anything. Open it up."

The local Mayans gave them dirty looks but opened the door obediently let them in. The warehouse was pretty unassuming – as usual in this case – and filled with sacks of what Jax though was coffee. The smell was delicious and made him long for cup. Lin was right in front of him looking around expectantly. "What the hell is that? Coffee? You guys deal in coffee?"

"Partly but this is just a front," Alvarez said. "We want to smuggle blow the same way. But this is still work in progress."

"But as you can see, Ese," Oscar said. "There are no guns here. So you can pack in and get the hell out."

Lin didn't look satisfied and was starting to get closer to the merchandise. "What is that?" he asked and starting moving coffee sacks out of the way.

"Okay, enough. I am not letting you mess up my..." Oscar began but stopped talking when Lin revealed what looked like a weapon box.

"Son of a bitch," Lin said, digging deeper and holding up a square package. "That’s my smack."

Weapons were drawn a second later, the Chinese all pointing at the nearby Mayans and those responding in kind. Jax gently shifted his position a bit to avoid being in the crossfire. "We had nothing to do with that," Alvarez said.

"Yeah, I am sure the blow just came here on its own," Lin said, fiddling with the weapon cache. "Shit these are the guns the Irish gave me."

"Everybody put down the goddamn guns," Alvarez said. "We are all friends here."

"Friends who steal from each other," Lin snarled. "I thought we were in that together, Marcus."

"We are. But it seems like I don't know everything my local charter here does," Alvarez replied, his eye falling on Oscar.

"Wait, Markus, I had nothing to do with that," Oscar said.

"So why are the guns in the shitty warehouse you browbeat Barosky to use despite me telling you that you should not make a splash? What, you were trying to get some cash? Get some more smack to sell? You probably thought Lin would blame the Sons and you could pocket the cash yourself!"

"You are not making sense. I wouldn’t do something like that without asking you! You can ask any of the guys here! They will tell you that we had nothing to do with it."

"You mean the guys you hand-picked for that charter?" Alvarez asked. "Somehow that does not reassure me." He turned to Lin. "I am really sorry about this. I will handle everything. For now please just take your merchandise. I will get to the bottom of that and tell you what I found out."

"Half of the heroin is missing," Lin said. "I am guessing it was sold already. I am going to need some cash as compensation:"

"Of course."

"Now, wait a minute!" Oscar said. "We are being set-up here. Somebody must have planted it here."

"That's your line?" Jax asked. "I was framed? Not really the most original idea, Oscar."

"Even if this is true, you still let somebody sneak into the warehouse you want to store all your stuff!" Alvarez hissed. "But we will discuss this later."

Lin motioned for his men to get the guns. "It seems like we have come to an agreement. I just need one more thing."

"And what's that?" Alvarez asked.

"This," Lin said and pulled his gun. Jax dived for cover instinctively but Lin was not aiming at him. Before anyone could react had had put a bullet directly into Oscar's skull. Lin raised his hands in surrender before the body had hit the ground. "That's for my men."

"Have you lost your goddam mind, puto?" Alvarez said, his gun out and pointed directly at him. Luckily nobody had started shooting which in Jax's eyes was remarkable. Good thing they had been through this several times already, otherwise everyone would be too twitchy for that. "I should kill you right now."

"Then my men will start killing your men and when we are done the streets will belong to Marks," Lin said. "Is that what you want? Besides, Oscar attacked my guys first. But if you put down your gun and let me walk out of here, I am still willing to work together against black should the need come to it."

Alvarez was visibly torn between killing Lin and letting him go. Jax couldn't decide if he should push him to shoot the guy or make sure the Chinese boss walked out of here alive. Having Alvarez kill him would be convenient but it would also be horribly anti-climactic. And Jax was not convinced he would get better without kill Lin himself. He owned that to Tara. Just when he wanted to stay something, Alvarez lowered his gun. "You are lucky I need you against Marks, ese. Something like this better not happen again."

"I could say the same," Lin answered. "Let's go, boys."

Jax watched him and the other Chinese go before approaching the shaken-looking Alvarez. "Quite a show. Good thing we all got out of it alive."

"Close call," Alvarez said, looking down at Oscar's body.

"Sorry about Oscar."

"Thanks." He hesitated for a moment. "I don't get it. What the hell was he thinking, messing with Lin? He was always a greedy bitch but this is just too stupid. And how the hell did he even know about the trade?"

"Maybe the Irish have a leak," Jax suggested.

"A leak which leads to Oscar? How the hell does he get an IRA contact? Did one of your guys maybe say anything to him?"

"Possibly," Jax said. "Or maybe Connor wants to branch out even more. I will look into it and keep you posted."

"Thanks."

"So should I get ready for retaliation against Lin? I would move my porn buisiness back to Charming if things get bloody in Stockton."

"As much as I would like to kill Lin right now, I need allies against black. And I can't deny that we were caught with the merchandise. Hard to argue with proof like that."

Jax lit a smoke. "Your think somebody could have planted it? Oscar mentioned something like that."

"If Oscar really lets people walk into one of our warehouse and plant stolen guns and smack, he was even stupider than I thought. I will squeeze his guys, see what I can find out. If they convince me that we weren't responsible, I will have to have another look."

"Well, you have my help, bro," Jax offered. "Whatever you need."

They shook hands. "Thanks, Jax. Good to know things are looking up here. And I know I did you wrong by spring this Stockton charter on you. Maybe this is way to make it up to you. Until I know whom I can trust, I am ordering all the Mayans here back to Oakland. If they convince me and we consider a chapter here again, I will run it by you."

"I appreciate that, thanks Marcus."

They shook hands and Jax managed to keep the smile from his face.

*   *   *   *   *

Jax took some time before showing up at Barosky's – he didn't want to run into Lin by coincidence –, Chibs and Happy tailing him as usual. "Did you have a look, Handsome Jack?" Barosky asked when they entered.

"Yeah, it was very interesting," Jax said. This time he was unable to keep the grin of his face.

Barosky smiled back. "I have to admit the planned sounded crazy at first but it seems like it worked out perfectly."

"That it did. The alliance between Lin and the Mayans is severely damaged and the Mayans chapter here is disbanding for the time being. Oscar didn't make it"

"Yeah, I heard. I would have preferred no dead bodies in my docks but sometimes this can't be helped. Can't say I will miss the asshole."

"I just can't figure out how you got the cargo into the warehouse without the Mayans noticing," Jax said.

"I know exactly which warehouses are used by whom and how they are guarded and I always keep a spare key. And Oscar apparently thought an almost empty warehouse wasn’t worth protecting all the time. My guys had a comfortable half-hour window to get the cargo in there and clean up after ourselves. Easy as pie."

Jax made a mental note to change all the locks in the porn warehouse just in case. "I really appreciate the help."

"Hey, the price was good and I never like the Mayans here anyway." He hesitated. "That was what this was about, right? Getting rid of a rival MC too close to your home?"

"Exactly," Jax said, even though that was only half the story. The day had been a roaring success. He had almost dismantled the Mayan-Chinese alliance, got rid of the hot guns, deflected the blame for killing Lin's men and had even removed the Mayan’s breachhead close to Charming. He felt almost giddy with the success.

"Now, I might regret this question. But it seems like the goods were stolen from Lin and whoever stole them killed a lot of his men. Was this you?"

Jax grinned. "Didn’t you hear? The Mayans were responsible. We just found the goods and made sure they were found at the right place. We wouldn't want to get punished for something we didn't do."

Barosky looked slightly worried at this. "I think I will stop asking questions now."

"That might be a good idea," Chibs growled.

"Just promise me that it won't blow back on me, Handsome Jack, whatever you are doing."

"As long as you don't tell anyone about our arrangement you should be fine."

"That's enough for me. Anytime, kiddo."

They shook hands. "Anytime"

*   *   *   *   *

Chibs listened closely as Jax brought the others up to speed. The president looked happier than he had seen him in days and Chibs could understand this. Today had been a huge success and one of the most successful bait and switches they had ever pulled. Chibs was satisfied as well but could not help wondering how long they could keep this up. Could Jax stack lies upon lies long enough to get close to Lin or would the house collapse eventually and bury them all? Maybe it would have been best if Alvarez had just killed Lin today. Jax might have been deprived of his personal vengeance but Chibs would feel much safer. He seemed to be the only one worrying about this stuff though, most of the others looked deeply impressed, even Bobby who usually had no heart for killing. Maybe it was all more impressive when you hadn’t been there. The others had spent their day in Charming, far away from the chaos.

Chibs, however, was uncomfortably aware on how risky their position had been. One mistake or deliberate betrayal from Barosky and Lin would have had a perfect opportunity to put a bullet into them. Jax took a lot of risks with his plans and Chibs kept waiting for the lies to collapse. But maybe he was too pessimistic. It had worked like a charm until now and had even gotten rid of the pesky Mayans chapter in Stockton. Though there would be hell to pay if Alvarez ever found out about them framing Oscar. Then the old Sons / Mayans feud would go into the next round.

"Anything happen here while we were gone?" Jax said once he was finished.

"Not much," Bobby said. "Your mom has everyone working on the funeral. I think I even saw Wendy helping her. Strange sight."

Jax smiled. "Yeah better not get in her way when she is working."

"She wants to hold the funeral tomorrow afternoon," Bobby said. "We have already reached out to the closer charters and they said they will be there."

"Okay, that's good," Jax said with an unusually throaty voice. Chibs felt a pang of pity for Jax. Tara’s death really must be hard for him. Chibs didn’t even want to think about how he would feel if Fiona's died and their relationship was a lot more complicated than Jax and Tara's had been.

"Best we get back to work then," Bobby said, turning to leave. The others followed him except for Juice. "I need to talk to you," he said to Jax.

Chibs started to leave but Jax stopped him. "Stay. You should stay up to speed as well."

The Scot felt strangely touched by this. It was good to see that Jax apparently trusted him enough not to shady deals with Juice anymore – or maybe he was just trying to give him this impression. In any case, it was a show of good faith and he would accept it. Juice for once didn't seem too offended by his presence – he made no comment at very least. "I was at the station today, giving my statement to Patterson. I did like you said, Jax, denying everything. But for some reason she knew that we suspect the Chinese and confronted me with it. I tried to play it off but she just kept coming at me. Wanting me to give her something so she could arrest the killer before we state a gang war and get innocents killed. I didn't say anything but she seemed really determined to stop us and maybe somebody close to the club feeds her information. I thought you should know."

Chibs's first instinct was to suspect Juice of being the leak but on second thought this was rather unlikely. What would the boy have to gain from that? He seemed very loyal to Jax at the moment and Chibs doubted Juice had any problems with going toe-to-toe with Lin. More cop blackmail? Unlikely, how many secrets could a guy have? Jax, in any case, seemed surprisingly relaxed about this. Thoughtful even. "I am not letting her lock Lin up. Running his gang from prison is not the punishment I have in mind for him."

"So what do we do here?" Chibs asked.

"We carefully look for the leak. In the meantime no word to anyone outside the club, not even crow eaters or friends. Only who has to know. This includes my mom by the way, maybe she is getting too close to Unser."

Juice nodded. "Do you think Patterson will arrest us?"

"Not unless she can spin it so I killed Tara."

"She has no evidence for that," Chibs said. "Otherwise she would have never released you."

"Maybe but I wouldn't put it past her to drum something up if she doesn't get a suspect anytime soon. We have to keep an eye on this and maybe give her something to keep her quiet. But let's worry about this later. I have to check on my mom and see how the preparations are going."

He got up and left Chibs alone with Juice. The atmosphere in the room grew tense immediately. "You think that I tipped Patterson off?" Juice asked tonelessly.

"What makes you say that?"

Juice laughed. "You are far more transparent than you like to think, Chibby."

Chibs would like to say the same but this just wasn't true. In fact, he had trouble recognizing the guy. Juice had been a lying backstabber those last months – and probably still was – but he always seemed weak and lost. Now he seemed hard and cold. Chibs wasn't sure he liked the change. It helped to reassure him that the Puerto Rican would not fall apart anytime soon but it didn't help with the trust issues. "You were my first thought but then I realized that you had nothing to gain by this. So I am ruling you out for the time being."

"I was I was surprised that your first instinct was to blame me."

"Do you really blame me for being cautious with you?" Chibs asked. "After all the shit that you pulled?"

"No but I blame you for harping on and on about this shit and not giving me any chance to make it up. The others still think I am not one hundred percent but seem to come around a bit every day, Bobby is doing his best to make me feel welcome and even Jax has forgiven me."

Chibs was not impressed. "The others don't know shit, Bobby is feeling guilty about telling you to take oxy and Jax will forgive you anything as long as you are being useful. And it is not as personal for him."

Juice actually winced at the remark before his face settled in the cold mask he wore so often these days. "I will not beg for your forgiveness. Maybe eventually you will be ready to work things out. If you are, I will be ready."

He left, leaving Chibs feeling surprisingly guilty.

*   *   *   *   *

Jax had feared that the funeral would be tough but this was far worse than he had ever feared. The sun was shining brightly and Gemma had outdone herself setting everything up but Jax had no mind for all that. Seeing Tara's coffin brought up all kinds of feelings he thought he had safely tucked away by now. The wave of grief was so strong it threatened to overcome him and only the thought of half of Charming and all the major chapters of the west coast watching that kept him from falling apart. If he had been alone, he probably would have cried like a little girl. He snuck a glance at Abel who looked rather lost. Gemma was whispering to him, probably calming him down and explaining the situation to him. Jax had never been that grateful to have his mother around. He couldn’t take care of his kids when he was close to falling apart himself.

He managed to hold on barely but this involved withdrawing so far inside that he hardly noticed what was happening around him. Time move strangely. One moment the mass was starting next almost an hour had passed and the coffin was lowered into the ground. Jax felt so numb by now he wasn’t sure what was happening was even real rather than a very real nightmare. The hardest part turned out dealing with the many well-wishers who wanted to offer their condolences because here Jax had to actually interact with people. He wished he could be alone but there was no way for him to pull away now. So he just said the same empty words over and over again while the others one by one offered their support. It was amazing how many people had shown up. SAMCRO itself, obviously, friends of the club, Rogue River, Nevada, SAMDINO and even the Grim Bastards had shown up. The support was nice but he just wanted to be alone.

The moment he could pull himself away, he retreated to Opie's gave. He sat down and leaned against the headstone. He felt close to his best friend here and Opie’s presence was calming him. "I'm so sorry, Opie," he said. "I shouldn't have given you shit for not being there for your kids after Donna died. I get it now, man."

It was a late apology but it was better than nothing. Jax wiped the tears from his eyes. "I know Tara would have hated it but I just have to kill him, Ope. I have to make it right like I did with Pope. It could get us all killed but this is the only way I can ever sleep again. I really could need you now, Ope. You should have been my VP. I just hope you understand what I am doing."

Jax hesitated for moment. "I doubt you see Tara where you are, but if you meet her, tell her I am sorry. For Ima. For Collette. For not getting out when I should have. For letting this happen to her. And tell her I am sorry for what I am going to do."

Once he was somewhat calm again, he got back up, brushing the earth from his jeans. When he rejoined the rest, Chibs approached him. "You wanna go, Jackie?"

"Yeah," Jax said, suddenly wishing nothing more than to get away from this. With one last look at Tara'S new grave, he walked back to his bike.


	7. Tower of Lies

Jax felt a lot better when he arrived at the clubhouse. They would have at least something of a wake, a short tribute for Tara before everyone went back home. The ice cream shop wasn’t quite big enough for such an occasion but he didn’t want the other charters to see the ruined old clubhouse. It would send the wrong message. It was easier to talk to people now, he felt lighter, more focused. Maybe he should visit Opie more often, it seemed to be at least a small help.

He had just checked on some brothers from Tacoma when Hawk, a member of SAMDINO, approached him. "A clubhouse with candy. Nice touch, Jax."

Jax grinned. "Don’t get used to it. We will move back to TM."

He wondered what was going on here. He didn’t know Hawk very well. The SAMDINO member was young, not even thirty. A stocky but strong-looking guy with brown hair. Not really handsome but not ugly either. Jax didn't know where the nickname came from. Certainly not his eyesight, Jax could see the contacts resting on his blue eyes. One things was new, though: the shiny looking VP patch on Hawk’s chest. "Didn't know you were made VP. Congratulations. What happened to Sticks?"

"His liver is acting up," Hawk said. "Too much booze I guess. He has to lie low and focus on his health for the time. Les thought it would be a good time to promote me." He hesitated. "Look, I wanted to apologize for not helping you guys with the guns business. I was all for it."

Well, this was getting interesting. "That’s okay. I can’t say I blame you considering the heat it can bring."

"Well, it was a close vote," Hawk said, "Les wouldn't have it and against him it is hard to make anything happen in SAMDINO. But we need the cash. Our poker games just don't bring in enough money. Maybe I can convince him in time and we could still get this pipeline from you."

"This ship has probably sailed," Jax said, his mind already spinning. "But not forever though. But you would have to commit to it. Suppliers want reliable partners. You can't just pull out if the business gets too difficult."

"I know and this won't be a problem. If the money is good, the others will fall into line."

"Well, I can certainly keep you in mind. If our Irish friends have more to sell, we might be able to push it your way. If you can get a vote, that is."

"I’m sure I can," Hawk said. "If you have anything, reach out to me directly, okay? Les probably won’t even listen to you."

"Sure," Jax said, a small grin on his face.

"Thanks, man. I will let you get back to the party."

He left towards the bar. Jax looked after him and wondered if Les knew what his VP was up to. His side in this civil war was clear: He was with the young, ambitious VP – not only because it reminded him of him and Clay. SAMDINO not taking the guns that been a huge hit for his plans and had left him no choice but to use Marks – with all the problems that came with it. It was too little too late, of course, but maybe he could use them to appease the Irish. Well, time would tell and he could really need a drink right now.

*   *   *   *   *

Gemma was exhausted but she couldn’t help feeling proud of herself. It had been a lovely funeral, despite the short time to set everything up. She was sure Tara would have liked it and was glad Jax had given her the task. It wasn't much but it had been something she could give back to Tara. The funeral had visibly been difficult for Jax but Abel had been braver than everyone had expected. Gemma wondered if Abel really understood what being dead meant but for the time being this was good enough for here. The boy needed some peace and quiet for a change. She hoped Jax would wrap up this Chinese feud soon, Abel needed his father for more than an hour a day.

She was just heading over to Jax when ran into Nero. "Hey, Gem."

"Hey," she answered a bit surprised by this. She had half-expected him to ignore her. The way things were between them, it wouldn't seem out of place.

"The funeral was nice," Nero said. "Good work setting everything up."

"Thanks, I had a lot of help," Gemma replied. "I am glad you came. Good for Jax."

Nero grimaced. "Not so sure about that. We are working through some stuff."

"Really? Business or personal?"

"Both I guess, not really easy to separate this stuff all the time."

"Well, try not to be too hard on Jax. He had a hard last year. And he could really use a father figure now. What happened to Tara must be horrible to him."

A strange impression crossed Nero's face. Before she could figure out what it was, it was gone. "Yeah, I get that. I will do my best. But there is someone else I have to mend fences with too. I am sorry I shut you out like that. I let the trouble with Jax bleed all over that wasn’t right. I miss you."

"Well maybe you shouldn't have dumped me then," she said though she was immensely flattered by his admission. Damn, she felt like a goddam teenager again.

"I know, I am sorry I got you mixed up in all that happened. I hope I can make it up for you."

Gemma hated nothing more than being shut out and would love to tell him to fuck off but she hated loneliness even more. As much as she hated Clay for some of the things he had done, she couldn’t deny that she was terribly lonely with him gone from her life. Nero had been the only thing that had helped and it would be good to have that back. "Alright, I guess I can give the Spic pimp one more try."

"And I will do the same with the cracker milf and hope her crazy boy won’t kill me."

Gemma laughed. "Don’t worry, I will keep you safe."

Nero leaned forward and kissed her.

*   *   *   *   *

Nearby, Jax was just finishing his beer when Chibs slapped his arm. "Look, Jackie, our lovebirds made up."

Jax followed his gaze and frowned. He had very mixed feelings about this. He had just told Nero a very dangerous lie and certainly did not want his mom to think he had killed Tara. He still had his doubts about the pimp's loyalty and knew from experience that sex and dangerous secrets went hand in hand when Gemma was involved. But on the flip side it would make his mom happy and she deserved a break. The last months had not been easy for her, Jax knew this very well. And she might be able to spy on Nero for him, should it come to that.

But seeing her like that triggered something else in him as well: loneliness. He had shared so many moments like that with Tara and he had grown so used to being with Tara. And now it was all gone forever, lost in an act of random violence that mocked all the sacrifices had had been willing to make. The thought was grim and he was quite relieved when his phone rang. "Yeah?"

"Jax, it’s August. I’m checking on Charming Heights and I would like to discuss something with you. Can you come and meet me?"

"Not the best time, August, we are in the middle of Tara’s wake."

"I’m afraid this can’t wait," Marks said and the hint of coldness in his voice told Jax that is was probably not a good idea to ignore him.

"Alright, I will go right away, see you there."

He hang up, feeling a bit uneasy. An urgent meeting with Marks probably wasn’t a good sign but Jax didn’t think he was about to be murdered either. Probably Marks wanted to discuss the recent events in Stockton and Jax had quite a good explanation for that. Not showing up would seem very suspicious and he wanted to keep his cover for as long as possible. Still, he would be on his guard and he definitely wouldn’t go alone. It was strange to be pulled away from a party in his honors but at least it gave him something to do besides pining for his dead wife. 

"Everyone", he said and every head in the room turned to look at him. "Thank you all for coming and for your support. It means a lot to me and I know it would have meant a lot for Tara either. Unfortunately, I have to leave you now to handle some club business that just cannot wait. I leave you in the good hands of my members and my wonderful mother who outdid herself setting this up. Enjoy, have a good ride back. I will be back as soon as possible."

He waited for the applause to end before grapping Juice and Happy. "You are with me. Where is Chibs?"

"Chapel", Juice said. "I think one of the Irish called."

"Shit, what now?" Jax murmured. A call from the Irish was even less welcome than one from Marks. He went to the Chapel and found Chibs who was just hanging up. "That was Connor," the Scot said, his face grim. "Lin called. Wants to meet with Connor to talk to him about the leaks. He really wants to know who gave up his gun shipment. Now Connor doesn't know what to do."

"Shit," Jax said.

"Aye, shit. This is really dangerous, Jackie. Connor won't take a bullet for our war against the Chinese. If push comes to shove, he will tell Lin the truth and if anything goes down between Lin and the Irish, the kings will blame us."

"Yeah, I get it," Jax said. "The question is what we can do about it. What did Connor say?"

"Guy is a goddam mess. Twitchy as fuck. He pretty much begged me to tell him what to do. He thinks the kings will not back him, if he goes toe-to-toe with Lin unless he tells them the truth. And when they find out about Galen they will kill him."

This was probably true. Jax really didn't envy Connor at the moment. The problem was that it was way too easy for him to pull them down into the abyss with him. In the worst case, Lin would learn the truth about Jax attacking the delivery and the kings would find out about him killing Galen. If that happened no power in the world could safe them. "We have to contain this, Chibs. We have to keep Connor on board and give Lin something to keep him busy. Maybe Connor can give up one of his men."

"Connor will not spill blood for us, Jackie. Our hold on him is shaky enough as it is. Push him any further and we will lose him."

"Then he should at least play for time. We don't need much longer for this plan."

"How about I handled the Irish?" Chibs suggested. "I think I can get Connor see the bigger picture."

Jax nodded. "Yeah, okay. I have to meet Marks anyway. Take Tig and if anything goes down, make sure that none of the Chinese leave."

"Even if it means putting a bullet in Lin?" Chibs asked.

"Yeah, even then," Jax said. It would be horribly disappointing but it beat getting everyone killed. He turned back to Juice and Happy. "Come on, let’s make Marks happy."

The ride to Charming Heights was uneventful even if it helped clearing Jax’s head a bit. He was confident now that Marks didn’t know anything, otherwise he probably would have started shooting already. If he kept his cool, everything would be fine. The dig sight looked busy and Jax relaxed further. If Marks wanted to kill him, he wouldn’t do it in front of an audience. Marks already waited for him in a makeshift office. While Juice and Happy flanked Jax, Marks was apparently on his own though Jax didn’t fail to notice the tough-looking men lurking on the construction side. "August."

"Jackson, thanks for coming. My condolences again. It must be hard day for you."

"Thanks," Jax said, ignoring the hard day part. He did not want to appear weak in front of Marks. "What's this about? I’m guessing you didn’t come by for the wake."

"The recent events in Stockton."

"If you mean the Mayan Chinese beef you might want to talk to Alvarez and Lin themselves. I just happened to be there when the action started."

"Yes, very convenient just as the fact that the stolen merchandise was were found in the Mayan warehouse. Before you were the prime suspect now it seems like Alvarez didn’t keep his people in line."

"I guess he didn't. The question is why does it concern you? I thought some Mayan Chinese beef would be good news for both of us. I don’t have to worry about their Stockton charter anymore and you can feel safer in Oakland."

Marks gave him a probing look. "Maybe on the surface but it brings further disruption into Oakland when all I want is a new balance. Taking over your gun business exposed me to new risks and things still have to settle from me taking over for Pope. I have all the territory I need and all I want from Oakland is some peace and quiet which doesn’t involve the Mayans and the Chinese fighting it out."

Jax shrugged. "If it bothers you so much, you can always try to play peace broker. Maybe it will help them get comfortable with your now position."

"I could but I wonder if another player is involved in this conflict."

"Like who?" Jax asked, hoping he sounded honestly curious.

"You."

"Me? What do you mean?"

"I mean that you attacked Lin, stole the guns and the smack and then decided to pin it on the Mayans."

Jax snorted. "I am faltered, August, but again you give me way too much credit. I could never pull off something like this. And why would I do that? The Chinese have nothing I want and I would put my club into great danger."

"I don’t yet but it seems too plausible for my liking. If you had something to do with it, I am telling you now and for the last time: stand down. Otherwise you will find that the Chinese are the least of your problems."

"Oh come on, August," Jax said, hoping he sounded as outraged as his hoped to be. "I told you, we had nothing to do with it. Don't you think I have earned a little trust?"

"Yes, which is why you are still breathing," August said matter-of-factly. He adjusted his suit. "I have to get going now. If you really had nothing to do with the Mayan, please accept my honest apology. I will keep you posted about the progress of Charming Heights. Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about your maintenance work or the housing for Opie's family."

Jax watched him go, his mind already spinning. Marks was clever, Jax had to give him that. And he already suspected Jax being behind the attack. This had to be handled and quickly. Eventually the truth would come out – hopefully only after he had killed Lin – and Jax doubted Marks would just ignore this continued betrayal. He would have to be ready.

"We need to find Tyler," he said to Juice when they left.

*   *   *   *   *

Chibs had a bad feeling about this. They had arrived at the meeting and he still had only the vaguest idea on how he would handle the situation. He wondered if Jackie felt the same way in these situations. If yes, Chibs was surprised the lad could get through the day with less than ten packs of cigarettes. Chibs had the nasty impression that they were quickly running out of time. There were only so many indirections they could use, so many lies to stack before it all came crashing down. Jackie really had to speed up the end-game here. Making Lin squirm was understandable but every second the risk became bigger. He would have to talk the boy about it. But first things first, handle a nervous Irishman without shit hitting the fan. The meet was a nondescript storehouse in the middle of nowhere where a couple of heavily armed Irish guards welcomed them and brought them inside. This made clear how nervous Connor was and Chibs took it for a bad omen. As they were walked inside, a new, nasty possibility crossed his mind: What if Connor had decided to betray them to Lin? maybe he was tired of Jax yanking his chain and had decided to let the Chinese do his dirty work. It was a risky, messy and dangerous plan but it was just the thing that might come out of a fevered mind. And he had walked right into the trap. Nothing he could do now but to stay on guard. Maybe it was a good thing Jackie had not come.

They were led to Connor who was nervously pacing up and down his makeshift office. The guards left the alone with Connor and Chibs relaxed a bit. "Finally," the IRA lieutenant said. "What took you so long?"

"Traffic was a bitch, Con," Chibs said.

"You know who else is a bitch? Me if I don't have anything to say to Lin. Tell me, Filip, who the hell put this flea in his ear that we were the ones to betray the gun meet location? And to the Mayans of all things? Did you guys even think for a moment before you decided to screw me?"

"It wasn’t about screwing you, Con. And don't worry, we will handle Lin for you. All you need to do is to give us a little more time. Jax is working on a plan which will dismantle Lin's whole organization in one sweep. He will be gone before he can lift a finger against you. You just have to play it cool."

Connor indeed looked a bit calmer at this prospect. "Okay and how am I supposed to do this? He will ask me about a leak. I will tell them there is none. There are only two ways this will end. He believes me and goes back to suspect someone else – probably you – or he doesn't and starts shooting. Then we will be in a war we have no stake in and the Kings will crucify me for this, if Lin doesn't kill me first."

"Maybe you could say there was a leak," Tig said. "Pick one men you don't need that much. Give him to Lin as a leak and kill him. Lin will be happy and none the wiser who is really behind this."

Connors eyes went wide. "Are you out of your mind? I won't sacrifice one of my men for your cause! The only reason I have this problem is because I helped you!"

Chibs groaned inwardly. This idea was bad when Jackie had had it but he guessed the President would at least have worded it much better. Out of Tig's mouth it was even easier for Connor to refuse it. And Tig didn't even let it go. "Hey we will all get killed if Lin finds out what we have done! So you better take one for the team!"

"There is no team! You guys browbeat me into both working the Marks and helping you with the Chinese! I am not doing anything to help with your stupid plan."

"Okay, enough," Chibs said, before the situation could escalate even further. "I know that you never wanted this, Con, and I am sorry you got dragged into it. It couldn't be helped and we didn't know Lin would actually come after you. Now we have to figure out what our next move is."

"Alright," Connor said, looking a bit calmer now. "But I am not sacrificing a soldier for this, Filip. If you want to pin the blame on someone, it has to be an outsider."

Yeah, but this was easier said than done. Chibs couldn't think of any plausible lies other than an Irish leak and if Connor could not go with the story, they were out of options. They couldn’t decide anything against Connor’s will. If the IRA took a hit, the kings would declare war on the club and they had barely survived the run-in with Galen. And pissing off the IRA would probably also stop the weapons flow to Marks, giving them a big black problem on top. No, the Irish had to be kept save from all the trouble even if it mean escalating the war with Lin. They had to take on Lin anyway but Jackie's plan didn't involve killing the IRA. "Maybe we should just play for time. Stall Lin, give us a few days to handle him. Jax’s plan should kick in soon and then we can make Lin go away before it all blows back on you."

Conner thought about it. "Okay but I already have meeting set for later. Lin wouldn’t take no for answer and I wanted to appear collaborative."

"No problem, this might even help us. You meet with him, show some sympathy for his plight and say you will look into it and get back to him. Shouldn't be too hard. All we need is a few days, Con. I promise it won’t blow back to you."

Connor nodded. "Yeah, okay. I can do that."

"Good we will stay for the meet. If anything goes down, we will come in and give you guys a hand. Nothing should happen but it is better be safe than sorry."

The Irishman looked grateful for that but Chibs wasn’t doing this for him. He wanted to have an eye on the meet, just in case Connor decided to change their deal. Maybe Jax was rubbing off on him.

*   *   *   *   *

Less than two hours later, Tyler met with Jax, Juice and Happy in Stockton, far enough away from the both the Niners and SAMCRO. The Niners boss seemed curious but not nervous or hostile. Jax guessed this was a good sign. "Tyler, thanks for the meet."

"Anytime, Jax," Tyler said, bouncing his fist off his. "What do you want to talk about?"

"I just had a meet with August Marks which did not sit right with me. We worked together well in the past but he gets more restrictive by the week."

Tyler nodded. "The same here. Since you handed him the gun business, Marks has been obsessing over everything. How we should handle the other gangs, which business we should give up, when to retaliate and when not. It’s driving me nuts."

"Yeah, I get that. And now it seems like he wants to add SAMCRO to his collection of puppets. I am not going to let this happen. Maybe we can help each other."

"How?"

"Marks is strong and well-connected. For now I can't resist him openly. But he power is more fragile than he might think. He just inherited Pope’s empire and relies entirely on the work of a dead man. Until he has proven himself, all these important relationships can go away anytime. On the street, he is nothing without you guys. Yeah, he might have his goons but his really strong arm are the Niners. If you guys would break away, his power on the street would be crippled. Without this, it will be easy to break his hold over us. We would both be free again."

"Sounds awfully risky, Jax. The moment I make a move against Marks, half my guys will piss their pants or might even rat me out to him. We need a plan if we want to do this."

"I am working on this," Jax said. "But first I have to know that I have you and the Niners in my corner. Without you, nothing changes and we will both take turns sucking Mark's dick."

Tyler thought for a moment. "Shit, Jax. I have hated Pope ever since he started bossing us around but are you sure we can take him? I don't won't to end up like Laroy."

"If this goes south, I will probably end up dead as well. But we have to do this. Otherwise this will never end. He will keep the leash tight until he his consolidated his power and by the time he will own us so completely we can never break away. This isn't what I want for my club and I don't think it is what you want for the Niners either. If I wanted to be someone's bitch, I would have stayed with the cartel."

"Okay, let's say I am in. What do we do?"

"The beef with Lin will soon escalate," Jax said. "He will never accept Marks as gun king. When this happen, we will have our opening. We let Lin’s and Marks's goon fight it out and by the time Lin is done Marks will be exhausted and vulnerable. Then we will strike."

 "And kill him?"

"If it comes to that.”

"Shit, Jax. You really want to go that far? I am sure Marks has the same bounty on his killer that Pope had."

"I will make sure to pin the hit on Chinese then. Should be easy enough given the war that will break out soon. But before I do anything I have to know I have the Niners in my corner. Without you nothing will change and we take Marks’s dick until we die. "

It took a moment but then Tyler nodded. "Yeah, I’m in but I have one condition."

"Really?" Jax asked, giving his voice a hint of coldness.

"I’m not trying to up the price here. I am being challenged by one of my own guys. This nigger thinks he can lead the Niners better than me and too many of members agree with him. He promises to get Marks to give us more autonomy. Of course, this will never happen but it sells well. If I don’t do something about it, I won’t be boss of the Niners long enough to help you with your plan."

Jax grinned. "Easily fixed. Me handling it will also give you some plausible deniability, so you won’t appear petty. Unless you want everyone to know it was you."

Tyler shook his head. "Wouldn't sit well with Marks."

"Consider it done. Just give me everting you have on our little rebel."

"Guy’s name is Chester, he hangs here in Stockton with his buddies. Probably blowing each other about how much better as a leader he would be."

"Not for long. Just text me the info, I will give you a shout when it is done."

"You think we can handle it, boss?" Happy asked when they went back to their bikes.

"We have to, it is the only way this works," Jax said. "And I doubt they should be too much of a challenge. A  quick strike and we well be back home before anybody notices."

"I am more worried about Tyler," Juice said. "How do we know he does not run back to Marks and tells him everything about this meet?"

"We don’t. But there was no choice in this matter. When Marks finds out what we have done to Lin, we will need the Niners in our corner otherwise he will easily crush us. And the only way to get their help is by bringing Tyler on board. I hope his hate for Marks is stronger than his fear. Well, one step after the other. Let's get to work boys, we have some rebels to crush."

*   *   *   *   *

Juice was a bit surprised how easy it was to get a meeting with Chester, the self-styled new hope of the Niners. He was nothing impressive in Juice’s book, just another ghetto kid with delusions of grandeur. He might have a bit more charisma than the usual Niner though but that didn't mean much. Didn’t matter now, he was as good as dead anyway. Nothing personal, just business. In earlier days this might have given Juice pause but now he watched impassively as Jax started spinning his lies. "We need someone who actually has some balls," the SAMCRO president said. "Who isn't afraid to stand up to August Marks."

"And why do you care about our relationship with Marks?" Chester asked.

"Because we also have some retaliation Marks doesn't want us to deliver," Jax said smoothly. "Alone, I can't defy him openly but if the Niners stopped being his bitch, things would look very differently."

"But Tyler is too much of pussy to see that, "Juice supplied. "If we leave it to him, we will both have Marks’s dick in our ass for the rest of our life. That's why we come to you. We can help you take control of the Niners, if you help us against Marks."

"And how would you help me?" Chester asked, clearly suspicious.

Jax smiled. "You never got those guns back from the Mayans. I might help you with that."

Greed flickered on Chester’s face and Juice knew they got him.

Half an hour later, they led Chester and three of his men into a warehouse Barosky had supplied for them. The weapons lay in the middle, innocently hidden in creates. Of course, Chester wouldn't keep these weapons, Jax had made sure of that. "See?" the president said. "I told you the truth. There they are."

"Yeah, you really came through, Teller," Chester said, giving him the first real smile since they met. "We might work together after all. Get the weapons, boys."

Jax gave him and Happy a meaning full look. Juice waited three seconds until the last Niner was in position and started firing. The renegade Niners were taken by surprised and dead before they hit the ground. When the shots subsided, the silence was deafening. "So that’s that," Jax said dryly. "Let’s get out of here and give Tyler the good news."

*   *   *   *   *

Chibs thought he was definitely too old to hide behind piles of industrial crates like a teenager looking for place to shag – his back certainly seemed to think so as well – but he knew it couldn’t be helped. Tig and he were hiding along with some of Connor’s men, ready to jump the Chinese should the situation escalate.  It was a good plan but Chibs was quite aware that if shit hit the fan, it would be just him and Tig in a sea of Irish and Chinese muscle. He would have preferred to have more of SAMCRO here but Jax was still busy in Stockton and they had to keep some people local in Charming. And of course there was only so much room to behind these crates.

From his position Chibs had a decent view on what happened at the meeting place. The spot was a bit away from the warehouse, out in the open. This had been chosen to show trust – Lin wouldn’t be stupid enough to walk into a warehouse full of Irish – but it also put Chibs and the rest of the backup quite a bit away from Connor. If something went down, they would have to hurry. Chibs really hoped this would go down without Connor getting hurt. He liked him well enough and it would cause a lot of trouble with the Irish.

The Chinese arrived in force. Chibs counted six men all apparently armed. Connor had only two men flanking him but of course his backup was just a few meters away. With Tig and Chibs’ help the numbers were probably in the IRA’s favor. The Chinese leader approached them and Chibs noted that it wasn’t Lin. This probably was a bad sign. The Chinese approached Connor who looked as nervous about this as Chibs was. "Where is Lin?"

"Mr. Lin doesn't think it would be wise of him to meet here, given the current attacks on us. My name is Lee. I was sent as an envoy."

Connor looked put off by this but recovered quickly. "Alright, please tell Mr. Lin that we had nothing to do with any attack on you. Why should we steal guns back we just sold to you?"

"This is indeed strange," Lee said. "Maybe there was leak, someone selling your secrets on the side."

"Unlikely but possible and a serious betrayal to the cause that cannot be tolerated. I will check everyone involved and inform you if I find anything."

"I am afraid I will need quick answers," Lee said. "We are at war and don't even know who we are fighting against."

"I'm sorry about that but is not us you are fighting."

"Who is the leak then and who is the renegade reporting to?

"How am I supposed to know that?" Connor asked. "I haven’t even begun my search."

"Really? So the fact that somebody has attacked your customer was not enough for you to start an investigation? What did you think we wouldn’t come to you? Did you expect we would just ignore that you are the only outside party that knew of the deal?"

"I am not responsible for you botching a deal," Connor said, his temper apparently getting the better of him.

"Oh, I think you are," Lee said, his voice dangerous now. "Mr. Lin feared this might have happened. You guys got greedy now you have Marks on your side and not just some washed-up biker boys. The perfect opportunity to kill the competition. You pretend to sell us some guns then hit the meeting with our customers and take your weapons back!"

"He’s gonna kill him," Tig said. "We have to do something!"

Before Chibs could say anything, Tig had already jumped out of cover. There was split second of utter disbelief on Chibs's side before he growled and scrambled after him. By then the shooting had started. Chibs took a shot at a nearby Chinese soldier, hitting him in the chest and felling him instantly. His first impulse was to retreat immediately but none of the other seemed to do so. Connor had managed to get behind cover, miraculously unharmed. One of his men was down but seemed to be moving. The Chinese wanted to retreat but Tig and two Irish pressed them hard. Chibs saw Tig getting hit in his arm but the former Sergeant at Arms didn't go down. Now, the other Irish were getting close to help them and Chibs guessed that they had won this skirmish.

The Irish seemed to think so too, they were already regrouping and getting the wounded to safety. Chibs found Tig first. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, it just grazed me," Tig said, examining his arm. "A decent bandage and it should be okay." He stretched. "This was actually kind of fun."

Connor joined them at this moment. "Everyone alright?" Chibs asked.

"Aye. Patrick took a bullet but I think he will make it. Good thing we were prepared for a fight. But you know what happens now?"

"What?" Chibs asked.

"You will keep your goddam war the fuck away from us! I don't care what Jax knows about Clay, if I get sucked into this one more time I will tell everything to the Kings. I don't care what they will do to me! If we go one like that, I will end up dead anyway and do a lot of damage to the cause!"

"Connor…," Chibs started but the Irishmen ignored him and continued speaking. "I will get underground for a while. No weapons for anybody. And when I resurface, you better have this conflict resolved and a new buyer for me should Marks no long be an option. Otherwise, what Galen did to you will only be a taster!"

He stormed off. "Seems like he is pissed," Tig commented.

"Yeah, I guess," Chibs replied, already thinking about the many ways this might come back to bite them in the ass. "Well, at least Lin is still in the dark. Come on, let's get you patched up and then out of here, before one of them changes his mind."

*   *   *   *   *

"That was quick work," Tyler said when they met an hour later.

"You know me," Jax grinned. "Always eager to please. You think this will solve your loyalty problems?"

Tyler nodded. "Yeah, with Chester gone the rest should fall into line quickly. But what exactly is the story here? Just in case August asks."

Jax gave him evil grin. "Well, it turns out Lin is keeping some weapons here in Stockton. Not a surprise given the trouble he has here. Now somehow, I really don't know how, Chester and his boys found the location and decided to raid it. The warehouse belongs to Barosky, his men noticed the break-in, went inside and killed them all. Shame for Chester and troubling to the Chinese. Barosky will obviously have to tell him about the incident. Marks might want to get in front of that, would be a shame if Lin overacted and started attacking him."

Tyler looked pretty impressed and Juice couldn't fault him. Jax was really good at this ad-hoc planning and somehow it seemed like he always had the matching intrigue for whatever problem they might have – if given the time. It was a bit like Batman if Batmen were willing to kill everybody who was in his way. In moments like these, Juice really hoped he never had to go toe-to-toe with Jax again. "Damn, when I hear you talk like that I think we might get rid of Pope after all."

"Told you it would all work out," Jax said. "So, do we have a deal?"

"Yeah, I'm in."

Jax grinned and they shook hands.

*   *   *   *   *

By the time they got back to the clubhouse, the wake was over and almost everyone had gone. Jax saw Hawk and Les Packer for a moment but they only had time for a short goodbye before the SAMDINO members had to leave. Inside, the cleanup was already in full swing with mostly Crow Eaters or Diosa girls doing the work. Jax didn’t see Gemma, probably she was off getting busy with Nero. Usually this would have pissed him off but he felt too satisfied and pleasantly tired to care about his mover’s love life. He poured himself a glass of whiskey from the bar and sat down in one the booths, lying back and relaxing. Happy was wise enough to keep him alone and even Juice managed to keep his mouth shut, giving Jax a few moments of pure silence. "Good work with Tyler," Juice said eventually. "With him in our corner we have a real chance against Marks."

"Yeah," Jax said non-committal. "Barosky really eared his pay this time. I just hope he doesn't sell us out as easily. Good thing we don't have any weapons at the docks."

"Any word from Chibs yet?" Happy asked.

"They are on their way," Jax said, having gotten at text from the Scot during the ride back. "Apparently it is under control. I think we are good for the time being."

"Good to hear," Juice said.

"Yeah. We should get some rest. I am sure we will have more to do tomorrow."

Juice took the hint and went to get some drinks. Jax just sat there for a moment with his whiskey and a smoke. He thought about Tara and how every minute brought him closer to his vengeance. ‘Soon you will be avenged, babe,’ he thought, ‘soon I will have made all of this right, just as I made Opie right.’ Ope. Jax sill missed him so much but he had done what he could to make this better. Lyla seemed to be doing well and Jax would make his damn best to make sure Kenny and Ellie would have the best life they could. Maybe Kenny would join SAMCRO one day. Jax thought this likely – it was how he had ended up in the club, after all – but he wasn’t sure if Ope would have wanted this. It might be best to just sit back and see what happened. If the boy wanted to prospect, Jax would make sure the door was open. If not, he guessed it was just as well. Pity Ope hadn't talked to him about these things before he died. But Jax probably would have tried to stop him if he had known the truth.

"You want another?" a woman's voice asked just when he had finished his drink. Jax looked up and saw Ima of all people, looking at him.

"Hey, didn't know you were here."

"I wasn't at the funeral but I thought I might swing by the wake and see how you are doing – if that's cool."

"Yeah, it’s cool," Jax said, to relaxed to fight about anything. And he had to admit that Ima looked good tonight. A bit over the top as usual but Jax couldn't deny he was digging it. "And yeah, I would like another."

Ima poured and sat down opposite of him. "How are you, Jax?"

"I'm okay," Jax said and at the moment this wasn't even a lie, even if he couldn’t tell Ima the truth about his peace of mind. "I think burying her helped. Gave me some closure."

"Well, if there is anything I can do to help, just tell me."

She took his hand at that and Jax knew this was no accident. His first instinct was to brush her off but he found that he couldn't. Having Ima this close to him, stirred things in him he had not felt since Tara’S death. He felt lonely and really considered just giving in to her advances. He couldn't be on his own forever, Tara would know this. "Yeah, maybe there is something."

There wasn't a bed at Scoops as there had been in the old clubhouse – they didn't have room and nobody had bothered getting a new one after the old had been torched along with the rest of the clubhouse – but Jax was confident that this wouldn’t be an issue. Given her profession, Ima would probably be fine with any flat surface. All they needed was some privacy – Ima probably didn't but Jax wasn’t enough of a show-off to start having sex with her in front of everybody. He led her to the Chapel which was empty as expected – few people dared to linger there – and closed the door. The moment he turned around she drew close and kissed him. It was unusually gentle at first, probing and cautions, probably because she expected him to stop her. But Jax didn't. Any thought of Tara was pushed out of his head and he responded hungrily, pushing Ima back towards the table.

She was getting really into it now, her hands wandering to his chest and pushing his cut off. She undid the buttons of his shirt in a speed that was admirable all without breaking contact with Jax.  The white t-shirt beneath quickly followed. It seemed like this was going to be quick and rough and Jax didn’t mind at all. In no time he was bare-chested and Ima's hand was now wandering to his waistband of his jeans and into his boxers. The movement triggered something in in Jax’s head. Tara had done the same thing when they had last made love, surprising him with her boldness. The thought cut through the daze he had been in and made him realize what he was doing: He was getting busy with one of the women Tara had hated most in the world. He quickly drew back. "Sorry, I can't. Too soon after Tara."

Ima looked mighty disappointed for a moment but pulled herself together with a grace Jax hadn’t expected of her. "Of course. Well, you know where to find me when you are ready."

She stalked off, leaving Jax feeling guilty, confused and still aroused. He pulled his white t-shirt back on and sat down for a moment, lost in his dark thoughts. "Hey," a voice said.

Jax looked up and saw Juice standing there. "You and Ima?" the Puerto Rican asked. "Saw her getting out."

"Nothing happened," Jax said. "I wanted to but it just feel too much like cheating on Tara."

"Shit this sucks man, you deserve a break."

"Yeah," Jax said vaguely, not really knowing what to do here. He felt like a fool and much weaker than he like feeling. Tara was gone and she still twisted his head. Juice looked unusually thoughtful and Jax wondered what was going to his head. "Something you need?"

"What? Oh yeah, Chibs is here. Just arrived with Tig."

"Okay, send him up."

Juice nodded and left. Jax had time for half a smoke before Chibs joined him. "Hey, Jackie."

"Hey, how did it go with the Irish?"

"Could have been worse, I supposed," Chibs said. He sat down and told him what had happened.

Jax felt a pang of anger when he heard Tig had broken cover early and forced a confrontation. This stupid idiot! Would it kill him to not rush in head over heels one time? This was the kind of behavior that had started the trouble with Pope, the sloppy, stupid bullshit that had gotten Opie killed. He stopped himself, if he continued this line of thought he would put a bullet in Tig's brain before the night was out.

"Yeah, I guess it could have been worse." he said when Chibs was finished. "We have to make sure the Irish don’t take any more hits but at least it has bought us some time. Lin will probably focus on them for a moment, which gives us time to strike."

"Yeah, I just hope he doesn't find them. If the Irish take too much damage the Kings will have our asses. We can’t risk that."

"I agree. We might have to accelerate the end game," Jax said thoughtfully. "I will think about something. Is Tig going to make it?"

"Yeah I stitched him up. Should be fine."

"Good we are going to need everyone sharp."

"Did you meet with Tyler?"

"Yeah, everything handled. The Niners are in our corner."

"Good. Now if you excuse me, I am going to find a crow eater with a daddy complex."

Jax laughed. "Should be easy enough. Have fun."

*   *   *   *   *

Collette was just pouring drinks for a well-dressed businessmen at the bar when a couple of Asian men in suits walked into Diosa Norte. Hm, some kind of business trip maybe? Hopefully not a group thing, those were always a lot of work for the girls. Well, she was just here to pour drinks and help organizing things while Lyla worked in Red Woody. In any case, the Asians didn't look like trouble but if they were, West was here to handle it. Colette would have preferred Jax for obvious reasons but of course the SAMCRO president couldn’t just hang in a brothel all day. She turned her attention back to the bar and was mildly surprised when the newcomers did not approach her. Instead they seemed to spread out in the room, clutching something that look like a murse – a strange choice for businessmen. As if on command, they all started opening them and when Collette saw what was inside, she knew she was in deep trouble.

*   *   *   *   *

In the ICU of St. Thomas Eli Roosevelt stirred. For a brief moment he was awake enough to realize he was in a bed, probably at a hospital. He tried to open his eyes to get a look around but before he could he lost consciousness again.


	8. Sacrifice

It was the dead of night when the call came. Jax ignored his phone for as long as he could but the damn thing just kept on ringing. Groaning, he grabbed it from his nightstand and answered. "Hello?"

"Jackie," Chibs voice rasped. "You have to come to Diosa. Right now."

His tone made it clear that the visit would not be pleasant. "Why? What’s going on? Please tell me that my mom hasn't killed anyone."

Chibs told him and Jax was out of bed in a minute.

*   *   *   *   *

He had known what expected him but the words did not do the actually situation justice. The place looked like a warzone. Bullet holes were everywhere and half the furniture was smashed. And of course there were the bodies. It had to be nearly twenty of them. Diosa girls, johns and West who had been hit with so many bullets his cut looked like a gruesome Swiss cheese. This death cut especially deep just as Collette’s did. Jax had known neither that well – West had been too new and Collette had just been a distraction – but this did not make it any better. "Jesus Christ," he whispered.

Chibs, Happy, Bobby and Juice were with him, the rest of the club was busy tracking everyone down and getting them to safety. They all looked shaken and Bobby seemed a bit green in the face. "Are they all dead?" Juice asked. "No one who can tell us who did this?"

"We don't have to ask that, dipshit," Chibs growled. "It had to be Lin. He must have figured out we were behind this."

"How?" Juice asked. "We were so careful! Jax took care of everything! Nobody knew it was us expect Tyler. Why should he rat us out to Lin?"

"I don't know," Chibs replied. "And it doesn't matter now. The fact is that we are out in the open now. We have to figure out our next move."

"This is on me," Jax said, his voice sounding low and fearful even to himself. "I thought I was so clever. I thought I had everything planned out. I was an idiot."

"Jackie don't think like that," Chibs scolded. "Feeling guilty is not helping anyone. We had a good run and did a lot of damage without being outed. Now the cat is out of the bag and we have to figure out what we will do about it. We need you for this, brother."

"We are all with you," Juice supplied, putting a hand on Jax's shoulder.

Jax noticed that Bobby was not saying anything which stuck him as a bad sign. But he realized that they were right, he could not afford any weakness now. "Alright, I will find a way to handle Lin but first we have to figure out what do with Diosa. We can't make all the bodies disappear, it would raise too many questions. We have to call the police."

"This will put us right back on Patterson's shit list!" Juice said. "The crazy bitch will probably hound us more than ever before."

"We have no choice," Bobby said. "Jax is right, we can't get rid of that many bodies. Especially not in such short notice. And these are regular people to, not gangsters. People will come looking for them. No, we have to tell the cops. It will bring some heat but it is better than the alternative."

 

Jax nodded. "We call it in and tell the cops we have no idea why this happened. I doubt they will think that we did it to ourselves so we might get off without too much scrutiny. Chibs, can you handle it? I have to think about our next move."

Chibs had just agreed when the door opened and Nero stormed in, looking pale and tired. He stopped when he saw the sight in front of him. "Jesus Christ."

Shit, this was not what Jax needed at the moment but he had to say something to the pimp. He stepped forward. "Nero..."

He was interrupted by a blow to the side of his head. "What the hell did you do, Jax? What did you do?"

Jax snarled and retaliated immediately. He got a couple of very satisfying hits – it felt way too good to smash the smugness out of Nero's stupid face – before he was seized from behind and pulled back.

"Okay, okay, enough!" Bobby said. "We have to work together here."

"What the hell happened?" Nero said, looking like he was fighting with tears. "Who did this?"

"Your buddy Lin," Jax snarled.

"Maybe I should handle this," Bobby said, giving Jax a reproachful look. "You go back to the clubhouse."

"Yeah, alright," Jax said and motioned for Happy to follow him - not that the sergeant needed any encouragement.

Without any further look at Nero he left Diosa and the chaos behind.

*   *   *   *   *

Juice wished they could start cleaning the place up. There were so many bodies, he didn't even know where to look without seeing the dead eyes of a Diosa girl, a john or West. After the scuffle between Nero and Jax, Chibs led them outside so they wouldn't disturb the crime scene. He was talking on the phone to what Juice guessed was the police.

Shit, only hours before the Puerto Rican had been so sure they could pull this off. Now West was dead and Diosa had turned into a killing field. Juice had not known the girls that well, not even Collette, but he felt bad for them anyway. They had been innocent just as the johns had been. But the colder side of him was actually glad the retaliation had not hit the club directly. They had lost one member and an important part of their income but most of the club was still standing and they could counterattack if needed. If Lin had attacked the clubhouse itself, he could have done a lot more damage, especially since Scoops was not as fortified as TM was. It was a hard thought but feeling guilty beat being dead.

Without anything better to do, he joined Bobby who was talking to a visibly shaken Nero. The black eye Jax had just given the pimp probably didn't make this conversation any easier. "...we had no idea something like this might happen," Bobby was just saying.

"Why the hell did Jax do this?" Nero asked. "Everything was fine with the Chinese. Why go to war now?"

Bobby shot Juice a very uncomfortable look. Juice thought a moment then nodded. They probably had to tell Nero the truth now. Still, he would let Bobby speak the words. Nero was pissed enough at him as it was and if Jax flew of the handle at the reveal, he would blame Bobby and not Juice. "The Chinese killed Tara."

Nero looked at him in surprise. "What? No, Jax told me he killed her."

"A lie to throw of any suspicion," Juice said. "Jax would never hurt Tara. I guess he thought he couldn't tell you."

It was a low blow but one that Nero had absolutely deserved in Juice’s book. Bobby continued the story. "We couldn't force an open conflict with both Lin and the Mayans but we couldn't just ignore this deed either. So Jax decided to do it in secret. We hit the arms deal and took the guns. We thought we had covered our tracks but it seemed like Lin is smarter than we thought. Sorry, Nero, we never wanted this to blow back on you or anyone inside this building."

"I…we...what happens now?"

Bobby had nothing so Juice spoke. "This is for Jax to figure out. I guess we will retaliate. It is going to get worse before it gets better."

"I never signed up for this," Nero said. "I wanted a quiet partnership. Jax promised me that something like this would never happen!"

"Nero… Bobby began but the other men interrupted him. "No, Bobby, no more excuses. I am tired of this! Ever since I hooked up with SAMCRO everything has gone to shit! I tried to make it work it but this is too much. We are done! Tell Jax that!"

He stormed off to his car. Bobby and Juice let him go.

"I don't think that went well," Bobby said dryly.

Juice shrugged. "Nothing else we can do." He didn't give a shit about Nero staying with the club. Truth be told, he would be glad to see him gone. The whole Darvany thing still hovered over them and he couldn’t help wondering if Nero would retaliate eventually. Better to have him gone.

"Are you okay, brother?" Bobby asked.

"As okay as I can be," Juice said. He felt tense of course – a looming gang war was no picnic – but at the same time he was sure that Jax would handle the situation. "I am not going to fall apart if this is what you are worried about."

Bobby looked guilty at that. "Sorry Juice, I didn't mean to..."

"It's okay, I know you mean well." He paused for a moment. "Thanks for trying to welcome me back. I know how hard this must be for you, given all the shit with RICO. I am really sorry about this, I let Roosevelt twist me up and things escalated from there. I know this is not something that can be forgiven easily but thanks for giving it a shot. That's more than I can say about Chibs."

"Don't mention it. I know you didn't do it easily and after the hard time Jax has giving you about it, I think you deserve a break. And I think Chibs will come around eventually, you just have to keep everything together."

Chibs walked over to them. "The cops will be here any minute. You guys can spilt, I will handle it from here."

*   *   *   *   *

Jax smoked in the Chapel while the sun came up. Nobody disturbed him, though he knew Happy was hovering behind the closed door, his watchful eye looked for any kind of danger. Jax guessed it would be impossible to shake the Sergeant at Arms off now, no matter what he did. Well, he couldn’t say that Happy’s caution was unwarranted. They had already lost a brother and it was very likely that Lin was planning to kill him next.

Well, they would see about that. Now that the first shock had passed, he could focus on his next move again. It worked as well as ever to take his mind off the bitter truths. Jax wondered what he would do if he didn't have new schemes to hatch or club business to handle. It was an unpleasant thought and he pushed it away. Some time later – Jax honest couldn’t say how long it had been –, there was a knock on the door and Happy peered inside. "They are all here, boss, should I send them in?"

Jax nodded. It took only a minute for the Chapel to fill with all remaining members of SAMCRO. Way too few of them and way too many unfamiliar faces, Jax noted with a stab of grief. He missed the old club. "What's the situation?"

"We tracked almost everyone down," Bobby said. "Seems like we are whole other than Diosa. We made clear that everyone should stick together and lie low for some time. I have already reached out to SAMDINO and Rogue River. They are sending us some backup."

"Good," Jax said. "My mom? The boys?"

"Alive and well. We couldn’t find Unser, though I doubt he would be Lin’s first target."

Jax nodded, relieved despite this fact. "We talked to Nero after you were gone," Juice said. "He wanted to know why the Chinese had done something like that. We gave him the facts but he was pretty pissed. He stormed off and said he is done with us. Sounded serious."

"I don't give a shit," Jax growled. "Let him rot with his idiot crew in Stockton. If he turns out to be problem, I will kill him myself."

An awkward silence fell after this statement, which Jax broke by addressing Chibs. "What did the cops say?"

"They weren't pleased, I can tell you that. Kept asking for more backup just to secure the crime scene. I stuck to our story: I found the bodies like that, no idea who could have done it. I doubt they will bust us for mass murder but we should expect a lot of scrutiny. Patterson is probably already planning to visit you."

"Not ideal but I think I could be worse," Jax commented. "I will handle Patterson. It might be useful to point her at Lin, I will have to think about it."

"How do we go on with LIn?" Chibs asked. "Or August for this matter? Can't be long till he discovers the Chinese attack and puts one and one together."

"August will be a problem," Jax admitted. "I am still working on this one. First we have Lin to handle. We will have to end this war once and for all. We can't make peace with him now. I doubt he would accept a truce at the moment and I would rather die than make peace with Tara's murderer. I know this was a set-back and I am sorry it happened but I have an idea how we can turn this around. All you have to do is trust me."

There was an unpleasantly long pause that started to worry Jax. The club had been fine with his elaborate retaliation scheme before but this had been before blood had been spilled on their side. If things went on like this, they might start to wonder if Tara hadn't already been avenged enough.

"We are with you Jackie," Chibs said and nobody protested despite the worry that was shown on some of their faces. "Just tell us what to do."

Jax nodded. "Okay here is the plan."

*   *   *   *   *

Patterson paced her office, her usual calm lost. This was a goddam disaster! She would have the attention of every law enforcement officer in the state and the media would crucify her publically. Not to mention the innocent lives lost in this heinous act. They might be hookers and johns but each of them had had a life and a family, lost in what was undoubtedly retaliation against the Sons of Anarchy. Probably Teller's war against the Chinese had escalated, just as she had feared. Now he would retaliate again and the circle of violence would continue. Before long, half the county would be littered with bodies in what had been a complete preventable war. All because of Tellers love for a woman who had died trying to get away from him. There was knock at the door, interrupting her pacing. "He is here, ma’am."

"Send him in," she said and tried to pull herself together for the meeting. She had to appear somewhat in control at least. Unser seemed to see right through her, though. "What is wrong?" he asked immediately when he entered her office. "I wake up to the sheriffs pounding at my door and bringing me here."

"I assume you have not talked to anyone in the club today," Patterson said. "They would have told you the news."

"No, I haven't. Which news?"

"There was a massacre at Diosa last night. Twenty bodies, most of them working girls and johns but also one member of the Sons. The club isn't saying anything but I bet it was Chinese retaliation."

"Jesus Christ," Unser said. "What should we do?"

"That’s actually a very good question, Wayne. I can obviously can't arrest Henry Lin on a whim and I don't see any way how I can legally detain all the Sons to stop the retaliation that will surely follow. The only way to stop this is to get through to Teller and persuade him to find a peaceful solution. I plan to sit down with him but I am not foolish enough to think that a few gentle words will be enough. I need something here, Wayne. Find Tara's killer. If we can arrest him, we can get the situation back under control."

"Do you think Jax will just stop because you have made an arrest?" Unser said. "Because I know this kid. If the Chinese are responsible, he won't stop until the Henry Lin or whoever else gave the order is dead."

"He will want to kill the murderer, though," Patterson said. "If we have him, we might have something he wants."

"You are not suggesting letting Jax kill someone in custody, are you?"

"No, but we might want to give Teller the impression we might let him. I really am out of option here, Wayne. Something has to stop the chaos and I don’t care what it is. If I have to, I drum up some charges and arrest the whole club! Then they can fight it out in Stockton County."

"Ok, I get it," Unser said. "I will do what I can. I should probably go, they are most likely already looking for me, making sure I am safe."

"How touching," Patterson, said, unable to stop herself. "I hope you work quickly, Wayne, otherwise I can’t guarantee anything."

*   *   *   *   *

To Jax's surprise, someone answered when he called Lin and quickly turned the call over to the boss himself. "I guess you got my message," Lin said, sounding much smugger than Jax liked.

"Yeah I got it," Jax said, trying to keep the growl from his voice. "And I guess we both know where this kind of message usually leads. We should sit down first to make sure we don’t try to kill ourselves other a misunderstanding."

Silence followed. "You really have some balls, Teller."

"So I am told," Jax answered. "But hey, if you don’t want to talk, I can always get Marks and all the chapters of the West Coast and crush your gang. It wouldn’t be the resolution I want but I can live with that. Or we could sit down and settle this like adults."

"How do you I know I can trust you?"

"You don’t. How do I know I can trust you?"

"I guess you don’t either. Alright. Let's meet in Stockton. 2 o'clock."

He told Jax the address which seemed on somewhat neutral ground. "Okay, I will bring Chibs. You should bring Ryu. No other guys."

"Deal. You better have something to say to me. Teller. Do not make me regret coming all the way to Stockton."

"I won't. See you soon, Henry."

He hung up and saw Chibs looking at him. "Do you really think this is a good idea, brother? It would be the perfect opportunity to kill both of us."

"It is the only move we have left. And if we do not make it out, Bobby will take charge, unite the other charters and kill everyone in Lin's crew. But I don’t think it will come to his. Deep down Lin knows that he can't afford a war against all the Sons."

"I hope you are right."

Yeah, Jax did too.

*   *   *   *   *

Lin kept them waiting which Jax did not like much. Maybe Lin was doing some kind of power play here, trying to make a point about how strong he was. If he did, the message was lost on Jax. It just seemed petty and vengeful. Or maybe they were busy trying to set up an ambush to kill both him and Chibs. An unsettling thought but Jax thought their defensive position was quite good, given the circumstances. While they were in the open, there were enough crates and other cover around and it was not far to Barosky's who might help them for a small fee. "I don't like this, Jackie. I feel like meat on a hook" Chibs said.

"Yeah, I know what you mean. Oh, there they are."

Ryu and Lin were moving to them. Jax made sure his hands were clearly visible and away from his gun. While it might be tempting to shoot Lin in the face right now, it would really hurt the message he was trying to send. He moved closer to them. "Henry, thanks for com..."

 

Before he could finish the sentence at least a dozen Chinese soldiers stormed out of cover, all pointing pistols or AKs at Jax and Chibs. Jax blood froze for a moment but they did not start shooting. "On your knees!" Lin shouted and they both obeyed.

"Henry, this is not necessary. I know you think we are at war but we had nothing to do with whatever you think we did."

"Are you really still trying to play me for a fool, Teller? You know what I did yesterday? I sent some of my men to the Irish. I really thought you might be right and they were trying to screw me. I felt really stupid when none of my men came back."

"What does this have to do with us?" Chibs asked. "If the Irish attacked your guys, it means that we have nothing to do with it."

"Chibs is right, Henry," Jax said. "If you have trouble with the IRA, maybe we can help you smooth things over."

"Stop trying to talk yourself out of this!" Lin shouted. "Do you think I am total idiot? I send Ryu and some others after Lee to keep an eye on him. They saw the Irish killing Lee and they also so your curly-haired psychopath helping them."

"Goddammit," Jax said. Of course Tig was screwing it up again.

"And suddenly it all made sense again. I was right from the beginning: You attacked my delivery. The whole stunt with the Mayans was just smoke and mirrors to get me on the wrong track and to sabotage my alliance. And like an idiot I fell for it. Well, I wised up after all. And since you hit my business so hard, I thought I would hit yours. The deaths in Diosa are on you, Teller, and it was stupid of you to come here. Now you die!"

He raised his gun. "Wait!" Jax screamed, fearing that he might actually miscalculated.  "Why the hell did you think I did it?"

Lin actually hesitated. "Retaliation for the trouble my uncle gave me?"

Jax felt a new surge of hatred. Did Tara not even cross his mind? This stupid asshole, he would skin him alive the moment he got the chance! Or maybe Lin just didn’t want to admit it in front of his men. Yeah, this was probably it. Maybe Tara’s death had been an accident after all, maybe Lin had meant to have him killed and now didn’t want to admit they had botched the hit. "It was Marks, man. He calls all the shots. I might wear the president’s patch but I am nothing but his puppet."

He could see the gears turning behind Lin's head. It was interesting, he had told Lin so many lies in the last days alone but Jax knew that the Chinese couldn't just dismiss his words. They were too close to what he had always feared. "Marks is behind this? Why?"

Jax shook his head in would-be exasperation. "He wants the guns trade, man. All of it. Now the Irish are on his side he can do more business than Pope ever did. And you are the only competition. He wants you gone and uses proxies so you don't see it coming. He ordered me to attack the transport, he passed the heroin onto the Mayans to sabotage your alliance and he convinced the Irish to kill your envoys and made us help. I am sorry this happened, Henry, I didn't have a choice. After the beating Pope gave us, I didn't think I could refuse Marks. I thought he might be reasonable about this, that this was just a precaution in case you couldn’t accept the transition but I was wrong. He won't stop till he owns everything."

"One more reason to kill you," Lin said though his words lacked conviction. The story seemed to have shaken him just as Jax had intended.

"Maybe but that would be a mistake in the long run. I can help you against Marks, make sure you win the war against him."

"And why would you do this? Or why should I even want your help?"

"Because I don't want to be August's bitch forever. And you should accept because you need me. Marks has his own crew, the Niners and the Irish in his corner. He has all the guns he could ever need and he won't rest till he has broken you. You don't even have the Mayans on your side anymore. You can’t fight this war and win."

A calculating look crossed Lin's face and Jax thought he was gotten through to him. The analysis was probably too close to comfort for him. It also was perfectly true: Lin wouldn't have a chance in a war against Marks – if Marks were actually fighting one. He holstered his gun and stepped back a bit. "And how could a bunch of wash-up bikers help me with that? You are less than ten guys and don't have any guns either."

Jax carefully got back on his feet and Chibs followed, whispering something about being too old to knee. "True, but I can get close to Marks. I can give you the information you need and I am working to bring Tyler on board. The Niners hate being controlled as much as we do and with their help it would be easy to get rid of Marks. We wait for an opportunity, kill him and free all of us from his tyranny."

"It is the only way, Lin," Chibs supplied. "This is not our war. Let's go back to the old days when you and SAMCRO could do business together."

Lin went over to Ryu and they quietly talked in Chinese for a moment. Jax was uncomfortable aware that they were still outgunned and outnumbered. Should Lin change his mind they would be dead within minutes. He could just hope that his speech was as convincing as he thought. The conversation stopped and Lin turned back to him. "Okay, Teller. We will try it your way. But if I suspect for a minute that you are playing me, I will gun down as much of Charming as I can."

"Noted. Here is something to build trust. I heard one of your gun storages got hit yesterday. I know where the guns are, I can give you the address and you can get them back. SAMCRO is supposed to watch over them but I figured we can just look the other way."

He gave Lin a slip of paper with an address scribbled on them. A warehouse in the middle of nowhere were they had stashed the guns they had stolen with the renegade Niners. It pained him to give up the hardware but he guessed it would be worth it. Lin carefully took the slip. "How do I know this is not an ambush?"

Jax grinned. "Hey, feel free to leave the hardware, no skin off my back. But if I wanted to ambush you, I wouldn't have come with just Chibs as backup. I would have told Marks to bring everyone and gun you down. But I didn't. August doesn't even know I am here. This gives you another option. If you tell him of my offer, you might get some good will. He might kill you quick or even leave you as a figurehead. But if you want to be free again, you better work with me."

Lin thought for a moment. "I will have my guys check the warehouse. You may go for now."

"No more attacks against my club or Charming?"

"Not until you deserve it. Keep me updated about what Marks is planning or what I should do. I will listen and then decide what to do."

"That's generous," Jax called after them. Lin did not respond and before long, Chibs and Jax were alone again. The Scot let out a relieved sigh. "Jesus Christ, this was closer than I thought."

"Yeah, Lin was more pissed than I expected," Jax answered, lighting a smoke. "But I think we got him where we want him now."

"How much longer are we going to do this, Jackie?" Chibs asked. "I mean it’s good that you got us some breathing room but we can't keep doing this forever. Lin has to pay and the sooner we finish him the safer everyone will be."

But the less fun it would be, Jax thought. But he saw Chibs’s point, there was only so much misdirection he could use. "Not much longer, Chibs. I got almost everything in place now. A few more moves and we will be done. Come on, let's get out of here."

*   *   *   *   *

Gemma was getting stir-crazy. She know club-lockdowns were necessary but it didn't make them any less annoying, especially since nobody was telling her anything. Only that something had happened at Diosa and that Jax was working on it. Yeah, she could figure this out by herself! She had the boys to watch over but she still felt horribly excluded. Like an afterthought. In moments like these she missed Clay. She didn't regret what she had done to him but she couldn't deny that she had never been more powerful than as his queen. And she wasn't Jax’s queen that much she knew. She had thought that with Tara gone her power of Jax would grow but she wasn’t so sure now. He trusted her with the boys – and she was very grateful for that – but kept her out of any club business. Nero was telling her more these days than any member of SAMCRO Speaking of Nero, where was this guy? Shouldn't he be here as well, kept safe with the others? Unless Jax needed him for something. Maybe she should call him. It would be good to see a friendly face. Wayne also was nowhere to be seen which was strange given that he slept here.

There was some scuffle at the gates and when she got closer to investigate, she saw Unser walking in. Well, speak of the devil. She walked over to him "Where have you been? The basically pulled me out of bed this morning to get me here."

"The sheriffs were quicker," Unser said. "Patterson wanted to talk to me."

"What the hell did she want?"

"She wondered if I knew anything about what happened at Diosa."

"Why would she come to you for that?" Gemma asked, suspicious now. "Isn't this something she should ask Jax?"

"I guess she will do that eventually. For now she wanted my input as a former police officer."

"And what did you tell her?" Gemma asked, ever curious. She doubted that Wayne would rat them out but maybe he could tell her more about what had supposedly happened at Diosa.

"What I knew, nothing. She didn't like that very much. Told me she needed something to get her superiors off her ass. If she does not get anything from Jax, she will drum up some charges and try to get them all arrested."

"This stupid bitch!" Gemma cursed. "What the hell is that supposed to accomplish?"

"Patterson does not want a gang war in her district. She seems to think that Jax can't provoke Lin from behind bars."

"Is she out of her mind? The war is already on! If she arrests Jax, the others will be sitting ducks. And I don't even want to think about what could happen to him in prison. We have to stop her, Wayne."

"I don't see any way we can, Gem," Wayne said. "She is the District Attorney, she can drum up any charges she wants. The court might throw the case out eventually but it could be weeks before that happens. The only thing we could do is give her something she can show her bosses."

"And what might that be?" Gemma asked.

Wayne looked surprised for a moment then recovered. "Well, one thing she is looking for is the name of Tara’s killer. It is a high profile case, very embarrassing to her given that she offered Tara witness protection and..."

"Chis Dunn."

"What?"

"Chris Dunn," Gemma repeated. "One of Henry Lin's men. I saw him at the house that night. He killed Tara."

For the second time in a few minutes, Wayne looked extremely surprised. "That might give us some time. Is Jax okay with me telling her that?"

"I will handle Jax, Wayne. You keep the black bitch off our back."

"Alright, I will call her." Wayne hesitated. "Is Dunn still alive?"

"I wouldn't know," Gemma said vaguely. "You would have to ask Jax."

"I see. Well, I will go make the call. Good thinking, Gem, I am sure this will make her happy."

Gemma watched him walk off, feeling proud of herself and her idea. It felt good to be useful again.

*   *   *   *   *

Marks was calling the fifth time this day when Jax finally answered. "August."

"Jackson." Marks didn't sound pissed much to Jax’s surprise. "I have been trying to reach you."

"Yeah sorry about this, it was a crazy morning. I am sure you know everything about Diosa already?"

"I want to see you at Charming Heights. Now."

"August, I can explain everything, if you just listen..."

"You will explain it to me in person. You can bring three men. Two of them should be Trager and Telford. You have half an hour. Don't make me wait"

He hung up, leaving Jax feeling slightly confused. Why did Marks care who he brought? He had a bad feeling about this but there was no other play here. Jax couldn’t go up against Marks and the Chinese at the same time. He could not let this escalated any further – at least for the moment. So he gathered Chibs, Tig and Juice – Happy should stay here for a moment – and got on his bike.

Jax took time to scout the situation as well as he could. The construction area was almost deserted, which was a bit strange given it was a Friday. But he could see Marks waiting, flanked by three other guys. More men were lurking in the background but they were far enough away that he did not worry about them too much. It looked like Marks was being cautious but Jax didn’t have the feeling he was about to be executed the moment he showed his face. He walked up to the self-styled businessman, the others waiting were they were. He was patted down, his gun taken but otherwise he could approach unmolested. "Here we are, August."

"Jackson. Thanks for coming. Now, what do you have to say for yourself?"

"Depends. What do you know?"

"I know the Chinese attacked your whorehouse. What I do not know is why they might have done this, especially when you have sworn time and time again that it wasn’t you that attacked their delivery. Has the truth finally come out?"

"At least what Lin thinks is the truth," Jax said. "But you are right, I haven't been truthful with you. I’m sorry but I thought I couldn't tell you. It really was us who hit the Chinese."

Marks shook his head. "Why Jackson? Why would you do something this stupid? This undermines everything we have worked for!"

"Lin killed Tara," Jax said simply. "He denies it well but I know he was behind this."

Silence followed this declaration. "I thought you were responsible?" Marks asked after a moment

"I could never do this to her. I needed something to throw off suspicion and this was the only thing I could think of. I am sorry, I didn't listen to you but I just could ignore what Lin has done."

"Sorry is not going to cut it. Your actions have started a war between you and the Chinese. A war that will hit Oakland, Stockton and Charming. A war, I specifically wanted to avoid!"

"The war was already on, August," Jax said. "The Chinese obviously killed Tara because I gave you the gun business. Why should they stop after that? His uncle tried to take the gun business by force and we killed him for it. Seems like Henry is doing the same, just in a more subtle way. He tried to take out SAMCRO and it was only a matter of time until he attacked you as well with the Mayans as his willing allies. An alliance that is dead now thanks to me."

"We could have handled this peacefully!" Marks said. "I told you I needed some peace for the transition period and you willingly defied me!"

"I did what was necessary, August! Tara had to avenged, the Mayan Chinese alliance had to be crushed before it swallowed us all! And Lin started it all when he had my wife killed, do not forget that! I never wanted this fight. If things had planned out the way I wanted, I would be off sipping whiskey in a porn studio waiting to go home to my wife and kids. No more guns, no more gang wars, just a quiet life. I have nothing to gain here. All I wanted is to avenge my wife and let things get back to where they should be."

"You should have come to me! Together we might have found a solution. Because it is pretty obvious that your plan has not worked out as intended!"

This was up to debate in Jax’s book. True, he had not expected the attack on Diosa but his subterfuge had resulted in some important victories. In any case, he thought the conversation was going well at the moment. He had expected to be face down in the dirt with a gun to his head by now. "I know this now. I was so blinded by my need for revenge that this did not cross my mind. But there is no way to change the past. The question is how we go on from here. I hope we can handle the Chinese together."

"After what you pulled we probably have to," Marks said. "But before I say anything I have to know what the situation is. You met with Lin. What did he say?"

"He thinks you were behind everything. I think his words were that there was no way an inbred white-trash biker boy like me could have come up with such a plan. He is convinced that you are trying to crush the competition and that all the talk about collaboration was just a diversion. Then he tried to recruit me to work against you, promising me freedom and a cut of the profit if I would spy on you for him -- I accepted."

Marks paused. "You did what?"

"I made Lin think I was on his side, told him I hated being controlled by you and that I would help to overthrow you. I gave him some harmless info to gain his trust. If all works out as planned, he will think me a loyal ally before soon."

"I don't get what you are doing here, Jackson. Did you just admit that you are working against me?"

Jax gave him a grin. "No, August, I just told you what I told Lin. Do you really think I would work with the man who killed my wife? This is just the perfect move to finish him. I will feed him the info we want him to know. We can lure him into an ambush and kill him in one swift strike. I just have to play the mole until he trusts me enough to give us an opening. Trust me, this way we will get out of this with much less bloodshed."

Marks thought for a moment. "And Lin really believes this? He killed your wife, why would you ever work for him?"

"Because he is an arrogant piece of shit who thinks I am too stupid to figure out who was behind the murder," Jax growled. "He will be surprised when I cut out his heart."

"And then what? We kill the rest of his crew?"

"I don't give a shit about gang territories in Oakland," Jax said. "You can sit down with Tyler and Alvarez and figure this out on your own. All I am asking is that Charming is left in peace. Except that, all goes back to normal before the Chinese acted up."

Marks thought it over for a moment. "And you can set this all up and I just have to trust you?"

Jax could not keep the smile of his face. "More or less. But we obviously have a better chance together than on our own. If I feed Lin the right information we can nip this war in the bud. You have to know this is the better plan."

"Oh, it sounds promising, all right. There is just one minor problem."

"Which one?"

"How do I know that you don't play me for a fool the way you do with Lin? You just admitted that you deceived me and that you run a similar scam with Lin. Maybe you are working for him after all and the talk about your dead wife was just bullshit. Or you are playing both sides against each other and want us to kill each other."

"Oh come on, August," Jax said. "Why would I do this?"

"I don't know, maybe you are just tried of working with me and want your freedom back."

"To do what? I gave up all illegal businesses SAMCRO had," Jax said. "All I wanted is some peace and quiet so my club can transition to earning straight. Instead I got pulled into a war I never wanted. A war about the very same thing I just gave up. I got into this war because I gave you the gun business."

"You gave me the guns because you had no choice," August said simply. "You needed someone for the Irish. You didn't do me a favor, Jax, I was doing one for you."

"A favor that will pay off handsomely once we handle the Chinese. I hope we can get together here August. I don't know if we can take on the Chinese on our own."

"Oh, we can work together," Marks said. "I just need a show of trust from you."

"Fair enough, you want some info on Lin?"

"No, something else." He motioned to his guards. "Give him his gun back."

Surprised, Jax waited passively when August's bodyguard put the gun back to his hand. "What are you doing?"

Marks ignored him. "Bring Trager and the others. Make sure they can't do anything."

The bodyguards gently led Juice, Tig and Chibs towards them. They all looked as confused as Jax felt. "What’s going on here, August?"

"I am making my point, Jackson. I am in dangerous position right now. Everybody who has worked with Pope is still waiting for me to prove myself. If they decide I am not worthy to be heir to Mr. Pope, they will divide my empire between themselves. I won’t let that happen. And part of this is tying up one loose end. Get Trager."

Tig was seized by two of the burly guards and dragged in front of Jax. Chibs and Juice tried to do something but Jax shook his head. They were vastly outnumbered here. Doing anything to piss off Marks would get them all killed. Tig snarled when he was dragged in front of Marks. "Mr. Trager, long time no see."

"Not long enough," Tig snarled. "What the hell do you want from me?"

"From you? Nothing. I want something from your president." He turned towards Jax. "I have put this off for far too long, Jackson. Kill him and show me that you can be trusted

The gun was hard in Jax's hand. "August, listen to me…"

Marks shook his head. "No more excuses, Jackson. Finish the job or I will finish you. And don’t even think about using that gun on me. You might kill me but my guards would first kill the four of you and then the rest of your club."

"I am going to kill you, you son of a bitch!" Tig snarled and Jax was not sure if he meant him or Marks. In the end, it did not matter much.

"Sorry, Tig," he said and squeezed the trigger.


	9. Doubts

The bullet hit Tig straight in the head, felling him like a tree. He was dead before he hit the ground.

Jax let out his breath and let the gun sink. He carefully avoided looking at either Chibs or Juice and turned back to Marks. "Happy now?"

Marks looked a bit surprised at his reaction but nodded. "Yes. It was a bit quick for what he has done but I get why you did it this way."

"I will need the body," Jax said. "Give him a proper burial. After all, he was a brother killed while serving his club."

"Of course, just tell my men where you want him."

Jax nodded. "Does this mean we are good now?"

"Yes, Jackson, I think I can forgive your insubordination for now. Just make sure something like this never happens again. And keep me updated on Lin. If peace is not an option, I want at least a quick war. Together we will have your wife avenged in no time. Go now."

"I will text your guys the address to bring Tig to," Jax said and walked away. "Come on," he murmured towards the others when he passed them – also without looking at their faces.

He was almost at his bike when they caught up to him. "Jackie!" Chibs called. "What the hell was that?"

Jax turned and looked at them for the first time since he had pulled the trigger. Chibs looked livid while Juice seemed shocked. "What do you think it was? I made sure August would not kill us."

"You killed Tig!" Chibs snarled.

"You think I don't know that?" Jax asked, managing to keep the anger from his voice. "What was I supposed to do? Refuse and let Marks kill all four of us? Because this is what would have happened. I hate that it played out like that but it was the only way."

"Bullshit," Chibs said. "You didn't even try to find another way! And why would you? You hate Tig for starting the war with Pope! Pretty sure you didn’t mind a way to get back at him."

This hit uncomfortably close. Jax had not expected to have to make this choice today but when Marks had forced the issue, it had been easy to pull the trigger. Because Chibs was right. He had never cared much for Tig and since his actions got Opie killed all affection he might have felt for the former sergeant at arms was gone, replaced by a cold disdain that sometimes bloomed into hatred. So, yes, Jax had not tried too much to find another solution. Partly because he had doubted Marks would accept it, partly because the price Marks had asked for was so easy to pay. But of course he could not admit that. "This is not what this was about."

"Oh really? Because I remember you having to make a similar choice back in Stockton County. Back then you would rather die than sacrifice one of your brothers! If Ope had not..."

"Do not talk about Ope!" Jax screamed, his calm gone now. "You wanna know why I pulled this trigger? Because it was so easy! Tig was a loose cannon, a parasite and a danger to us all! He killed Donna! He got us into this mess with black in the first place. He got Opie killed! And he has never paid for a single thing he has done! Not for Donna! Not for helping Clay! Not even for Ope! Now tell me, Chibs, did you really expect me to risk everything to save his worthless hide?"

"It is not about what Tig has done, he still does not deserve to be sacrificed like that."

 "Oh yeah? Strange, you don’t seem that forgiving when it comes to Juice. He at least has tried to make things right with the club and has suffered for it. All Tig had had to do was to say yes in a few votes!"

Chibs’s jaw set. "This is not the same."

"Because it is not so personal?" Jax asked, going for the weak spot. "Because you liked and did not care much about Tig?"

"Guys, this really isn't the time..." Juice started to say but was interrupted by Chibs.

"And what happens the next time one of us displeases you, Jackie? Do you 'sacrifice' him as well? Because what you did right now was as good was murder. No vote, no volunteers, nothing! Just a split second decision."

"There was no time for vote, Chibs. Do you think Marks would have waited? Roast me as much as you like Chibs but there was no other play here. Marks would have killed all four of us! What the hell would that have accomplished? I am willing to die for my club but this death has to mean something! Tig's did! He bought us the time we needed. Trust me, something like this will never happen again. By the time we are finished both Marks and LIn will just be an ugly memory. Trust me Chibs, it is all going to work out."

"I find that hard to believe, Jackie. You better be right about it!"

He stalked off towards his bike. Jax started to follow him but Juice put a hand on his shoulder. "Give him some time. There is no point talking when he is like that."

Jax turned to face him. "Is he right? Did I go too far?"

"I don’t see anything else you could have done. We were outmanned and outgunned. Yeah, we never could have come but it would be hard to fight both Line and Marks and the same time."

Jax nodded gratefully. Maybe Juice was just trying to get on his good side but he could appreciate the support nevertheless. And if Chibs took this the wrong way, the president would need all the help he could get.

"What will you tell the others?" Juice asked.

"The truth I guess," Jax said, grabbing a smoke and lighting it. "Chibs would probably tell them anyway and I want them to hear it from me."

"Bobby will go probably go ballistic," Juice pointed out.

"Yeah, probably. I hope they will see that there was no other option." He paused for moment. "You know this was not personal, right? I did not use the opportunity to get back at Tig."

The words rang hollow in his ears. Jax knew that deep down some part of him had enjoyed getting back at Tig. At the very least, it had made the decision way easier than it had been.

Juice was kind enough to indulge him. "Of course, Jax. You just did what had to be done."

Jax hugged him. "Thanks, Juice, this means a lot to me."

The Puerto Rican needed a second before hugging him back - which Jax chose to interpret as suprise. After a moment they parted. "You're welcome. Thanks for sticking up for me against Chibs."

"He needs to get his head out of his ass on this one," Jax said. "Come on, let’s get back to the club before Chibs gets everyone riled up."

*   *   *   *   *

Juice only had to walk into the clubhouse to know that Chibs had already told everyone. The haunted stares were quite telling and Juice instinctively wanted to hide from them. He wondered if he had made a mistake aligning with Jax in this conflict. Juice was certain that his dislike of Tig had at least helped Jax make this decision. He wouldn’t even put it past the president to engineer this confrontation to kill Tig and not get blamed for it, even if this was unlikely. In any case, Juice would not miss Tig much but he doubted the others would take it this easily. He could tell what was on their minds right now: "if Jax is willing to do this, will he also kill us if it was necessary?" Juice knew the answer to this already: A resounding yes. He knew that there was nothing Jax would not do if properly motivated. He wanted to laugh at their faces for their naiveté.

Bobby approached them. Juice expected the accusations to start immediately but he gave him a pat on the back before hugging Jax. "Brother, I am so sorry."

"Me too," Jax said in a choked voice. Juice wondered if he was just play-acting or if he really felt sorry. It was hard to imagine Jax having any feelings other than burning rage these days.

"Chibs told us what happened," Bobby said when they parted, his tone still neutral and not at all accusing. "Is it true that you killed Tig?"

Jax looked at Chibs who sat at the bar and looked both completely unapologetic and pissed. It was the same kind of look he usually gave Juice these days. It always made the Puerto Rican wanting to sink into the floor but Jax met it head on. "Let’s talk in the Chapel. I think everyone in the club should hear this."

Bobby nodded and they quickly moved upstairs. Once everyone had sat down, Jax spoke. "To answer your question, Bobby: yes, I killed Tig. Marks forced my hand. It was either this or outright war between him and us. He probably would have killed all four of us if I hadn't done what he wanted. I couldn't make this choice. Tig would have understood."

Chibs laughed at this. "He didn't seem so understanding when you shot him in the face!"

"Enough!" Bobby said "This is not helping anyone. There is no changing the past, the question is how do we go on from here?"

Everyone was now looking at Jax expectantly. The president hesitated for a moment, then spoke. "Those who remember Opie's death know that I would rather die myself than sacrifice my brothers and this has not changed. But Tig inflames Marks beyond reason and there was no way he would have accepted any other outcome. It was his death against four deaths and possibly the death of the club. There was no choice there."

Jax continued and turned to Chibs. "Chibs, I know you are angry and maybe you are right. Maybe we shouldn't have gone to meet with Marks. I didn’t expect him to go that far. I should have known better from the moment he asked me to bring Tig. I am sorry, brother. But I can't take it back now. All I can promise you that Tig will be avenged and that by the time we are done, Marks will be gone from our lives forever."

Chibs nodded but did not speak – Juice guessed this was as good as they could expect under these circumstances. Jax turned back to the others. "Tig is a big loss but at least Marks is off our backs for the time being. We are now in the perfect position. Lin thinks we are helping him overthrow Marks while Marks thinks we will crush the Chinese with him. If we play it right we can get them to kill each other. The first step will be to use Marks’s muscle to crush Lin. Once this is done, we will turn our attention back to him."

"If we take on Marks," Chibs said, "The Irish will lose their distributer. We have to know that any move in this direction will bring us heat from the IRA."

Jax nodded. "We will have to give them a new pipeline. I am working on this."

"I hope you are not thinking about the Mayans," Juice said. "The Irish hate Mexicans almost as much as they hate blacks."

"Not the Mayans, no," Jax said. "I am thinking about do it in-house. But this is still a work in progress and we have something more urgent to decide: a Mayhem vote."

Shock and silence followed these words. "Against whom?" Ratboy asked.

"Me," Jax said matter-of-factly. "I have killed a member without a club vote. I think you all understand why I did it and I hope you see that I had no choice but we still have to follow the rules. I will wait downstairs. It the vote does not go as planned, I just ask you to let me see the boys one more time."

He got up and left, looking eerily calm for what was happening. He had just closed the door behind him when the murmurs started. "Is he serious?" "Well, he did kill the guy" "But we can't kill our president!" "In this situation? We should..."

"Quiet!" Bobby said. "One after the other, please."

"This is ridiculous!" Juice said. "Marks had us by the balls. If Jax had not given him what he wanted, Marks would have killed all four of us. We can't kill him for that!"

"So he can just kill who he wants?" Quinn asked. "Look, I am not saying that Jax had any other choice. I wasn't there and I see that you were in a really tight spot. But what kind of message does this send? To Marks? To the other charters? Hell, even to Jax. He might think he can just decide who lives and who dies."

As if he doesn't do this already, Juice thought to himself. It was almost funny how naive some of the members were. If Jax really needed it, Juice knew the president would sacrifice every single one of them. But the thing was: Whatever else he might be, Jax was not sadistic – well not unless he really hated you – and he was not irrational. And he loved SAMCRO, maybe more than he loved anything.

"So what should we do, Quinn?" Juice asked. "Kill him?"

"No!" Quinn said immediately. "But we have to do something. We have to show him that shit like that is not okay. Like..."

Happy gave him a withering glare. "Jax needs us now more than ever! How can you even think about abandoning him?"

"I am not abandoning him! I just don’t want him to keep making mistakes like this!"

"Okay first things first," Bobby said. "Does anyone here think that Jax Teller should meet Mister Mayhem for killing Tig?"

Silence fell after the question. Nobody raised a hand. "Good," Bobby said after a moment. "Very good."

"But we have to do something!" Montez said. "This war is getting way too hot! We were doing so well but since Jax has gone on this revenge trip everything has turned to shit!"

Juice laughed. "What do you expect him to do? Ignore the murder of his wife? Lin had already declared war on us and we had to do something. It does not matter if Marks was against it or not."

"Then maybe Jax should have killed Lin and be done with it," Quinn said. "But he kept playing his games and made the war more and more complicated all because he wanted more revenge on Lin. He didn't know when to quit! Look at the shit we had in the last day alone! Diosa! West! And now Tig! This can't go on!"

"Jax handled it all," Happy pointed out.

"For how long? A day? A week? You don't think this double agent shit is going to work, do you? It will backfire again and then we will be crushed between the Chinese and Marks!"

"Do you have a better idea?" Juice asked. "Because I don't see you giving any input! Jax, however, has done amazing things over and over! Who brought down Marks? Who got us out of this cartel bullshit? Who made sure the Chinese and the Mayans are not allied anymore? Jax did! You don't know shit, Quinn, and until you have better plans than Jax I suggest you shut your mouth and do what you are told!"

Quinn glared at him. "Just because you want him to fuck you does not mean we all want to be his bitch. How about we get a new prez who gets us out of this mess?"

Juice snorted. "Like you?"

"No," Quinn said, pointing at Chibs, "like him."

Everyone did a double take. Chibs said nothing so Quinn continued. "Chibs knows that Jax has lost control. And he is smart enough to find a new strategy. I would follow him in a heartbeat."

This had to be joke, Juice thought. Chibs had no clue! He was a good guy but Juice knew he would never be sly enough to get rid of Marks. And he had a personal reason to oppose Chibs's ascension: With him at the head of the table, Juice’s future within SAMCRO was uncertain to say the least. The Puerto Rican was confident Chibs could not expose him as a rat without doing too much damage to himself but this was not as comforting as it should be. He had to quash this idea before it could gain traction.

"That's nice to know," Chibs said before Juice had figured out what to say. "And you are right that I have my doubts about Jackie. I get that he has to avenge Tara and I want to pay Lin back as well but we have to admit we are out of our depth here. We have to end this war before it can escalate any further. I will talk to Jax and tell him that we need an exit strategy. I don't know if we can avenge both Tara and Tig at the same time and we can’t draw it out any further. The club has to come first. If Jax can’t accept that we have to make him stop. I won't let his vengeance destroy us all."

Juice was about to interrupt but Chibs already spoke on. "But I also believe Jackie when he says that this decision was hard for him. They had their beef but if Jax had wanted Tig dead, the guy would have met Mr. Mayhem a long time ago. I really believe that Jackie had no choice and that he will do his best so something like this will not happen again. And the simple fact is that we cannot change presidents now. Not when we are fighting at two fronts. Jax would probably not go quietly and the infighting would make it easy for Lin or Marks to destroy us. So for now I suggest we will give him another chance. We will stop this mayhem or leadership replacement nonsense and tell him we are with him – for now. Is that okay for everyone?"

Assertive murmurs all round even though Juice stayed silent. Juice wondered if Chibs’s hesitation was due to loyalty or if the Scot was playing some power game here – a long term plan to gently vest power from Jax. It was strange to even consider the latter option but Juice could not shake the feeling. Strange times indeed. "Okay," Bobby said. "I think we are done, I will go and give Jax the good news."

Everyone was starting to leave but Chibs who was now looking straight at Juice. "Give me a minute?"

Juice nodded and remained seated. He was unsure what the Scot wanted but doubted that it would be anything good. Probably more accusations. Chibs waited until the door was closed and spoke. "I must say, I am surprised you are so willing to jump into bed with Jackie on that one. I thought you would know how Tig felt."

"Oh, so now you care how I feel?"

To his surprise Chibs did not take the bait. "I am just trying to find out how can you be that loyal to Jackie after what he has done."

"What? You think he never threatened to kill me in all these months? I have imagined something like this happening to me for thousands of times! So, no, I am not surprised that Jax crossed this line and you shouldn’t be either. You know he has never been the same since Opie died. You just were lucky enough never to get on his bad side. Some of us have."

"I know what you have been though..."

"No, you don't!" Juice shouted. "You don't know shit, Chibs! Do you know how scared I was? First, I beat myself up over Miles and was terrified someone might find out the truth. Then Jax did and it got even worse! Every day I waited for whatever horrible thing he would make me do this time and wondered how many lies, double-crosses and murders it would take for him to forgive me! Or if I was just kidding myself and that he would never let me off the hook. I wondered if I should just kill myself or run but I was too scared to do either. What you feel right now, that nasty feeling that Jax might have you killed one day, is the same I had for months now! So don't try to tell me how I feel! You have no idea! And you should pray that you never find out!"

He stopped talking and silence followed. "I'm sorry," Chibs said after what felt like a whole minute.

Juice was sure he had misheard. "What?"

"I said I am sorry. I should not have given you so much shit after what Jackie has done to you. I was hurt at the betrayal and I am sorry."

He had not believed that he would live to see the day. "Thanks, Chibs."

"This does not mean that I have forgotten what you have done to Miles or the club. But I will at least try to forgive you. Not sure how good I will be but I will try."

"That's all I am asking," Juice said who felt a lot of different emotions at once right now. If you had asked him an hour ago, he would have sworn that he was all over needing Chibs's approval but now he was not so sure anymore. It felt too good to have at least a chance of making up with him. But part of Juice was skeptical. Had Chibs really learned or did he have an angle here? Was he trying to get an ally against Jax? If yes, he would probably be disappointed, Juice had no desire to be his bitch. "So how do we go on now? With Jax I mean."

"Hell if I know," Chibs said, frustration in his voice. "I love the guy but I can't help wondering if he is in over his head."

"I was surprised you turned down Quinn's offer," Juice said, carefully testing the waters. "To be president, I mean."

"I would never abandon Jackie in a time like that," Chibs said. "Even if I might have my doubts about his leadership."

"Even if you really believed he would run the club to the ground?"

"Maybe but I don't believe that," Chibs said. "What are you playing at, Juicy? You trying to figure out if I am a threat to your boyfriend?"

"Just making conversation, Chibby," Juice said. "And I doubt Jax would like you to call him my boyfriend."

"I doubt he would mind." A short pause. "Why would I event want the gavel? I never even expected to be made vice president. Being president would be even worse. I have followed orders for too long to be a leader and I don’t know if I could deal with the pressure. Jax knows it too. This is why he made Bobby president when we all thought he was going to prison."

"So if Jax died tomorrow, would you make Bobby president or take the gavel yourself?"

"I would leave that to Bobby," Chibs said. He gave a snort. "Hell, what a pair of leaders we would make. The scarred IRA castoff and fat biker Elvis. What a joke. Let's hope it never comes to that."

Juice wondered what Chibs as president might be like. Probably it would be an extreme case: either the Scot would immediately collapse under the pressure or would muster up and be a very good leader. Though it was hard to imagine that Chibs would ever be as shrewd as Jax was. But then again Juice had not expected the funny, kind, if slightly short-tempered, Jax to become an ice-cold psychopath, so maybe he should not rule it out. "Well, if Jax finds a way you might never have to take this burden. Should we go down to the others?"

Chibs heisted then nodded. "Aye. And I hope you are right about Jackie, Juice."

"He will find a way, Chibs. And trust me, if he needs somebody to die it will probably be me and not you."

Chibs gave him a small smile which Juice returned even though it had not been a joke.

*   *   *   *   *

Jax sat at the bar and sipped his whiskey, hoping he did not seem too unconcerned. He did not believe for a second that the club would pass a Mayhem vote but it might make a wrong impression if he seemed too sure of himself. He had no doubt that they were shaken and that he had to expect some resentment but all in all he wasn’t too worried. Everything would go back to normal once he had the Chinese and Marks handled. With Clay dead there was no one in the club particularly close to Tig and once the immediate danger had passed the incident would fade from memory. And despite everything Jax still believed that he could steer the club into calmer, legal waters once the current gang war was over. This reminded him of something. For all his pointless belly-aching about the Tig thing, Chibs had brought up one important point: The Irish would be a problem. Jax was fully committed to punish Marks for forcing his hand – he hated nothing more than being pushed around – but he would have to give the Irish an alternative if he did not want the clubhouse being blown up again.

The problem was he did not really have any. The Chinese naturally were no option with the recent trouble and Jax doubted the Irish considered yellow as white enough even under the best circumstances. There were the Mayans, of course, but they had no experience with arms trade and the IRA famously did not like Mexicans. No, the only thing he did see was passing the business to another SoA charter just as he had originally intended. The plan had its own risks – they could still be hit with RICO if the other charter screwed up – but it would throw off law enforcement for a time and take a lot of heat of SAMCRO. Most importantly, it would be a trivial adjustment for the IRA. The same organization, the same business model, just some new faces – which might even be a plus given their mixed experience with Jax. Now he only needed a charter who was willing to take the business, preferably one closed by. The IRA had a pipeline to California and giving them a chapter from New York as a partner would not sell well. SAMDINO would be perfect, if they only had not voted down the business.

But maybe things were not lost on this front. Pecker had given him the impression that the proposal had tanked but it had sounded differently from Hawk's mouth. Maybe the ambitious young VP could sway the votes the right way. Jax would probably have to help him set it up but it was an idea worthy of exploring. He took out his cell and started dialing Hawk's number to set a meet. The conversation went smoothly and Jax had already finished by the time Bobby came down the stairs.

Jax put on a worried face just for show. "And?"

"All good, brother," Bobby said.

Jax grinned, stood up and embraced him. "Thanks, Bobby."

"Don't thank me," Bobby said. "I hardly did anything. It was Juice who defended you most. But even so a Mayhem vote was never an option."

"So is everyone on board?"

"Well, there might be some...concerns. You should talk to Chibs about that."

"I will," Jax said, not surprised at all. "How about you, Bobby? Can I count on you?"

"Of course you can, I just...well there was some talk about us having bitten off more than we can chew and I have to admit, I can't help feel like this is true."

"I didn't think you could ever bite off more than you can chew," Jax joked. Bobby slapped his shoulder but couldn’t keep a grin of his face.

"Yeah, I didn't think so either. Anyway, the point was that this is all going on too long already. The conflict keeps cycling and escalating. We have to end it, brother. We have to kill Lin and soon. Otherwise I just know the club will take too much damage to recover. Whether it will be Marks, the Chinese or Patterson who does us in I don't know but I am sure something like this will happen."

"Don't worry, I am already working on an exit strategy. If it all works out, we will have it done by next week and can focus on getting more hookers. I know you are dying to do a bit of casting."

Juice and Chibs joined them at this moment. "Maybe you should do it, Jax, then the girls will work free of charge," Juice said.

"Hookers are not like you, Juicy," Chibs said. "They are not so desperate for his dick."

"Everything alright here?" Jax asked. He left it open whether he meant between Chibs and him or between Juice and Chibs. Both would be interesting to know.

"Aye," Chibs said. "We made up."

Well, this was surprising. Jax could have sworn Chibs would take this grudge to the grave. Jax was happy for Juice, he knew Chibs's approval meant a lot to the Puerto Rican. "Good to know. And between us VP? Do I have to fear a coup?"

"No," Chibs said. "But we need to speed things up, Jackie. The club cannot take more of this. We need to handle the Chinese and quickly. You might have to settle with a more simple revenge than you planned."

"I know," Jax said. "I am working on it. Trust me, the end will come sooner than you might think. I just told Bobby we should be fine next week."

"Jax!" Happy shouted suddenly from the door. "We have a visitor!"

The president turned his head and saw Tyne Patterson casually walking into the ice cream store. They had added some fortifications due to recent events which in Jax’s mind might be a little suspicious right now. Well, he guessed she was preferable to another gang. Patterson did not seem to be here to make an arrest, otherwise she would have brought more than one body guard who was currently waiting at the door.

"Madam District Attorney," Jax said. "Can I offer you a drink?"

"Just a bit of your time, Mr. Teller," Patterson said. "Could we maybe talk in private?"

Jax nodded and the others left the room, some waiting outside, some upstairs. He finished his whiskey and sat in one of the booths with Patterson on the other side of him.

"I heard what happened at Diosa," the DA said, "you have my condolences."

"Thank you."

"Of course, you understand how such an event might alarm me. Your cooperation would be very helpful."

"I am afraid, I can't tell you anything. We really don't know who might be responsible."

"Your mother seems to disagree," Patterson said. "She told me you had a feud with the Chinese. And that one of Henry Lin’s men, a certain Chris Dunn, is suspected to be Tara’s murderer."

Jax barely managed to keep the surprise of his face. Gemma had told here? No, this couldn't be true. Unless she had told Wayne and the idiot had gone blabbing to Patterson. "I don't know anything about that."

Patterson was eyeing him keenly. "You know, when Gemma told me, I had hope for you. I think that maybe somewhere in this club somebody cared about justice and not just vengeance. Imagine my disappointment when it turned out to be bullshit."

"Bullshit?" Jax asked, now more than confused.

"Yes, I had my people look into Chris Dunn and it turned out that he was in a holding cell in Vegas the night Tara was murdered. And of course he is currently missing so I can even bring him in for questioning."

Jax's head started swimming. What the hell was going on? He knew that Dunn had murdered Tara, Gemma had been absolutely certain. But why would Patterson lie to him? Was she trying to get him riled up against his mother? What would that achieve? Or had Gemma made a mistake? Was she even lying to him? But that did not make any sense. "I don't know what to say."

"How about you tell me the truth for one time and let me end this stupid war before more innocents get hurt?" Patterson, raw anger in her voice. "How many more people have to die before you are satisfied?"

"I never wanted Diosa to happen!" Jax replied hotly. "I only want justice for Tara."

"Justice? There is no justice in what you are doing. Just the vengeance of a hurt and bitter man! But this ends now."

Jax felt a defiant look spread on his face. "There is only one way this war ends!"

"We will see about that," Patterson said. She stood up. "I had hoped you would let me help find the truth, Jackson, but I obviously I was wrong about you. Good thing I will not need your help anymore. The doctors tell me that Roosevelt is recovering. They are expecting him to fully regain consciousness soon, maybe even today. Once he is awake, I am sure he will be able to tell me who attacked Tara. Once this happens, I am will come down hard and arrest anyone who has something to do with this. In the meantime, I strongly suggest you do not make any more moves against Lin. I am not above having all of you arrested on false charges just to keep you off the street."

"That would tank your career."

"My career will be over anyway if any more bodies show up. So I guess we both have to hope that Roosevelt wakes up soon. And don't even think about trying to kill him, he is very well protected. And if anything does happen to him, be sure I will throw your ass in jail before his body is even cold. Good day to you."

She left, leaving Jax troubled. He did not fear Roosevelt waking up – in fact, he was very interested in what the sheriff might have to say – but the other things she had said worried him. If Dunn really hadn't been the killer...no this was impossible, it had to be Lin!

He saw Chibs come down the stairs. "Everything alright?"

"Let’s go to TM," Jax said. "I need to talk to my mother."

*   *   *   *   *

Gemma had a bad feeling and could not really say why. She and the others interred at TM had been told that they should be safe for the moment and were free to leave but Montez and Quinn had seemed pretty sullen when they brought the news. They had returned to the ice cream shop before Gemma had time to ask them about it which left her furiously in the dark again.

Everyone else had gone back to normal and she had tried to continue working as usual but could not concentrate. Something was wrong she was sure about it. Maybe she should call Jax and ask him what was going on but she did not want to disturb him. God knew that he had enough on his plate. And where the hell was Wayne? Probably out consorting with that black DA bitch. She saw movement out of the corner of his eye and saw Jax walking up towards the office, as if summoned by her thoughts.  Chibs was with him and she was immediately relieved when she saw them.

"Hey, Ma," Jax said when he walked into the room, carefully shutting the door behind them. Chibs apparently waited outside which was very suspicious.

"What happened?" she asked immediately.

Her son gave her a dark look. "Tig got shot. He's dead."

Gemma felt her world collapse a bit at these words. Tig had been one of her oldest friends and now he was just gone. "What happened?"

"Trouble with black. I can’t give you any details only that it is handled for now. I'm sorry, Ma."

"Can...can I see him?"

"Soon," Jax said. "We are still setting everything up. Not sure where we should bury him yet."

Gemma tried to say something to that but for a moment words failed her. They had been some kind of team, her, Clay and Tig. A faction within the club. Now she was the only one left. She felt lost and more alone than she had ever felt.

"There is something else," Jax continued. "Patterson just came to the ice cream shop."

This information cut through the grief. Anger laced through her. "What the hell did that bitch want? Did she arrest somebody?"

"No, we are okay." Jax’s face hardened noticeably and she could not quite explain this. "But Patterson told me something very interesting. It is true that you told her about Chris Dunn?"

"What? Yes. Well, I told Wayne and he told her. He said that Patterson needed a win otherwise she would drum up some charges and arrest you. I only told her that we knew Dunn killed Tara, not what has happened to him."

"You should have asked me first."

"Wayne made it sound like there was no time and thought it was the right thing to do. Did I get you in trouble?"

"I just want to be asked before something like this. But don’t worry, I don’t think Patterson can do any damage with it. Especially considering that Dunn couldn't have killed Tara."

Gemma looked at him in surprise. "What?"

Now Jax definitely looked pissed. Her son was handsome even in anger but it only made the sight more terrifying. "Patterson said that Dunn was in a cell in Vegas the night Tara was murdered. Imagine my surprise! She gave me shit for yanking her around and I could only stare at her in shock. What the hell am I supposed to make of this, ma? You said you were sure. Did you think it wouldn’t matter which of Lin’s guys killed Tara? Did you even see anything this night? Or were you just trying to get my attention?"

"What? No, I told you the truth, baby."

"So Patterson is lying?" Jax asked. "What if I have someone look into Dunn myself? Are you sure I won't find the arrest?"

She wasn't of course and a competent investigator could easily find out the truth about an arrest. Shit, this was just her luck. Why the hell had she told Wayne anything? "I was sure it was him but I might have been mistaken. It was dark after all and Asians all look the same to me."

"Jesus Christ, ma! Do you have any idea what I did to Dunn? You just let me torture a guy to death when you are not even sure it was him?"

"I didn’t do it on purpose!" Gemma defended herself. "I could have sworn it was him."

Jax took a deep breath, probably to calm himself. "But you are sure it was a Chinese guy?"

"Yes, of course I am sure of that, baby. Maybe I was wrong about Dunn but this does not change anything. Henry Lin ordered the death. You kill him and you have avenged Tara. It does not matter which of his henchmen he used."

Jax looked deeply troubled by this and Gemma cursed her luck. If her son continued this line of thought he might eventually get dangerously close to the truth. Luckily, her lying to cover up that she had killed Tara would never be the first thing that came to his mind. Maybe she could still contain the damage.

Her son stopped his musing and gave her a strange, calculating look. "Good thing we will know the truth soon. Patterson told me that Roosevelt is starting to wake up. He will know what happened to Tara and she is dying for him to wake up. I wonder how she will react when I kill her target first."

Icy panic spread in Gemma's stomach. It was over! Roosevelt would expose her in a heartbeat and she had just heard what Jax would do. She did not have to fake the surprise in her voice. "I thought he was a good as dead."

"Me too," Jax said, looking thoughtful. "Anyway, I want you to stay away from Wayne for a while. No more talking to cops and you are not doing anything without asking me first. Focus on the boys and leave the rest for me."

"Of course, baby," Gemma said.

"Good, I will keep you up to speed about Tig. I have things to do."

He stood up and left without another glance. She knew he was beyond pissed at her and probably thought she was losing her touch – at least this was the best case she could think of. Did he already guess the truth? No, he would have killed her on the spot if he knew anything. She quickly made sure the door was closed and saw him talking to Chibs on the other side of the yard. She started pacing. What should she do? Roosevelt would expose her even if Jax did not guess the truth before. The best thing would be to kill Roosevelt but there was no way she could do this. It would be extremely difficult even with the help of the club and impossible on her own. And once the truth was out nothing could save her anymore. Jax would never forgive her. And as horrible as the thought was, she was certain that he would kill her for that – no matter how much damage it might do to him. This was how he was, this was how she had raised him. She could not let this happen, if not for her than for her son. She might have failed him with Tara but she would not do even greater damage.

The problem was that she did not know when Roosevelt would wake up – if ever, it was possible that Patterson was deluding herself or just plain old lying – but had to be prepared. She would have little warning once he woke up. Patterson would arrest her immediately which would be preferable to being killed by her own son but not what she wished for her retirement. No, if the truth had to come out she had to make sure that she was far away from Charming. She would need help for that and there was only one person who came to mind. She grabbed her keys and headed out.

*   *   *   *   *

Patterson sat in her office, lost in thought. The conversation with Teller had left her quite confused. She was certain that the MC president had been honestly surprised when she had told him about Dunn but this did not make sense to her. She had assumed that the lies came straight from him and had wondered about the sudden sloppiness but apparently Gemma had acted without his approval. Patterson wondered what the matriarch had hoped to gain from this. And was it possible that she had somehow told her son the same lie? If yes, things could get very unpleasant at the family dinner table. And what did this mean for her investigation? Was Lin not responsible after all? Or had someone else of his men murder Tara and Gemma had just confused the henchmen? All very serious questions.

And she had no idea how to continue either. Roosevelt was in and out of consciousness by now but still too weak and confused to say anything. The doctors were very pleased by this progress – she had the strong feeling they had not expected Roosevelt to wake up again at all – and urged for patience but she had none. He had the answers she so desperately needed and longer she waited for him, the worse the gang war would get. Maybe she should make true of her threat and just arrest most of the Sons of Anarchy. Teller was right, it would kill her career but it could prove a sizeable delay that might calm things down. But it could also embolden the Sons’s enemies and give her a new massacre right here in Charming which was the last thing she needed.

A knock on the door startled her out of her thoughts. "Yes?"

Her assistant looked inside. "Ma'am? Jax Teller is here to see you."

Patterson was more than surprised by this. "Send him in."

Teller did not take long to appear, his face unreadable. She usually had at least some idea what he might want but today she was stumped. She had the vague notion that it could be nothing good, though. "Mr. Teller."

"Madam DA, thank you for seeing me."

"Well, I must admit I was intrigued. What brings you here?"

"I thought about what you said to me earlier. Are you sure about Chris Dunn?"

"Absolutely," she said. "Police records do not lie. Unless there is some vast conspiracy to exonerate a probably already dead gangster, Dunn couldn't have killed your wife."

Teller contemplated this "I don’t get it," he said after a moment. "My sources were sure that Dunn was the killer."

"I guessed they had to be," Patterson said, "After all, you wouldn’t start a gang war on a whim."

Teller did not take the bait but she could tell he was worried now. "I have to talk to Eli Roosevelt."

She needed a second to recover from her surprise. "Out of the question."

"I need to know who killed my wife," Teller said. She wondered who she could have ever thought that he had killed Tara himself. If he had, he was the best actor in the world.

"I understand this but I will not let you do any more damage with your outlaw vengeance. Tara's murderer will be brought to justice and it won't be by you."

"What if I give you something in return?"

She chuckled. "This is not a negotiation, Mr. Teller."

"Everything is, you just need the right price." He leaned forward. "I can give you August Marks."

This surprised her. "The Oakland entrepreneur?"

"The Oakland gang leader, drug lord and heir to Damon Pope. I can gift-wrap him with guns or drugs and let you pick him up. It will be the biggest bust in decades. They will probably give you a medal."

"And I am supposed to just trust you on this?"

"What is the risk?"

"That you kill whoever Roosevelt names as the killer and leave me as a goddam fool once again?" Patterson asked.

"Hey, I have honored every deal that we made."

"Only to the letter, never to the spirit. I quiet succinctly remember a couple of dead Irish."

The MC president still seemed very unconcerned. "Suit yourself. I think this is the best deal you could ever get. You would get a whole crime syndicate for the small price of a private chat. And I think you could really use a win like this. Finding Tara's murder won't help you at this point, they will still crucify you for Diosa."

"Which I in turn have you to thank for."

"Diosa was a tragedy for both of us. I can't turn back time to stop it but I can try to make up for it. Come on, Madam DA, you know this could be huge and all I am asking for is a quick chat with Roosevelt."

This sounded too good to be true but Patterson could not deny the appeal. She thought she had already dealt with the fact that her career was over but with Teller putting this solution right in front of her it was getting much more difficult to accept. Should she consider it after all? Teller could not be trusted but what did this matter when the price was so low? And she didn't doubt he wanted August Marks off the street though she doubted his motivation was the greater good. It did not matter in the end, what mattered was getting some dangerous criminal of the street. If she handled things carefully, Roosevelt would not be in any danger and she would get a much-needed career boost. But she would have to be very careful. If she got burned her there would be not coming back. "For the sake of the argument, let's say I am interested. How would things work out?"

"Well, you let me talk to Roosevelt and afterwards I will set up a meet with Marks. You burst in and arrest him."

"Oh no, Mr. Teller. You are not getting anything until I have Marks arrested, otherwise what would stop you from just forgetting our deal?"

Teller looked pained. "I really have to speak to Roosevelt. It is really urgent."

"You expect me to trust you again after screwing me with the Irish? I am not a fool, Mr. Teller, and I am not letting you talk to Eli until you give me something." He said nothing but stewed quietly. "And even if I wanted to, Eli is not fit for questioning yet. So I suggest you start working on Marks right away and I will make sure you will be the first to talk to Eli."

This was not quite true. If Teller came through, she would set it up but she would speak with Roosevelt first, she was not stupid enough to rely on his word anymore.

"Alright," Teller said, extending his hand. "But keep my club out of it even we are arrested with Marks."

She nodded and shook his hand.


	10. By Any Means Necessary

Gemma’s first stop on her search for Nero was Diosa. It was irrational – the brothel had just been shot up and searched by the police – but the aging gangster was here after all. The bodies were all gone but the bullet holes obviously remained, making for a gruesome sight. She found Nero in what remained of his office, apparently cleaning out his things into several cardboard boxes. "Hey."

He turned to look at her. "Hey, what are you doing here?"

"Looking for you," Gemma said.  She nodded towards the boxes. "You cleaning or packing?"

"Packing. It is over, mama. Jax and I are done. I am going to sell him my share of Diosa and move north. Finally get started on this farm."

Jax had not mentioned any trouble with Nero but she guessed she should not be surprised about that. "I didn’t know things were so bad. Anything I can do?"

"No, just leave it," Nero said. "It was a bad idea from the start. I am glad I met you but I never should have started doing business with the Sons. Jax just ruins everything he touches – no offense."

"None taken. Things are not exactly great between me and him either. He really keeps to himself these days. He makes all the decisions and just expects the others to follow."

"Yeah, exactly! This is why it did not work out. He just kept doing things and...sorry, I should bring this on you."

"It's okay," she said. "When are you leaving?"

"I don't know yet. I need the money from Jax but I doubt he will have time for me the next days. Maybe I will drive up regardless just to get my head clear." He hesitated for a moment. "I know you probably will say no but I just have to ask: Do you want to come with me?"

She pretended to be surprised. "To NorCo?"

"Yeah, I know it is a lot to ask but..."

"Yeah, I want to come."

This took Nero visibly off guard. "Really?"

Gemma shrugged. "I think I could use a change of scenery as well. The way things are with Jax some distance might do us both good. And it is not like I am going far away. "

"Okay, great," Nero said, apparently unable to believe his luck. "When should we go?"

"Oh, as soon as possible. I just need a break from all the things here. You finish organizing your stuff and call me. Trust me, I can pack very quickly."

Nero grinned. "The first time I have heard a woman say that. Next you will tell me that you only need one suitcase."

"That might be pushing it," Gemma said, leaning in for kiss.

Nero responded and for a moment she thought everything might be alight after all. A quiet life in NorCo with a man she trusted at her side didn’t sound too bad.

*   *   *   *   *

An hour after his meeting with Patterson, Jax and Happy met with Hawk a bit outside of Charming. Off all the things Jax had to get done this day, this was the most secret, even more clandestine than him sitting down with Patterson. That the SAMDION VP had come all this way alone made it even more obvious that something was off. Jax felt reminded of his own time as VP. How often had he been the renegade VP, setting up things behind Clay's back? He found that he missed the time a bit.  Back then, the club had been whole and he still had had both Opie and Tara at his side. He shook off the feeling and approached Hawk. "Hawk, thanks for coming."

"Thanks for seeing me," Hawk said. "How's it going, Happy?"

Happy just gave him a stare and Hawk turned back to Jax. "Should I be worried?"

"No, Hap just isn't one for ideal chatter. How are things going in the south?"

"Same old. I floated the gun deal again and it looks promising," Hawk said. "We have a bit of a cash flow problem so the boys are eager for some bigger game, especially the younger members. But we are still short of a majority. Some brothers are categorically opposed, others might be brought to our side."

Jax nodded. "So what is the time frame?"

Hawk frowned. "I really can’t say, Jax. The doubts won't just disappear if I keep asking. And the more trouble you guys have up here, the more difficult it will be. The biggest problem is Packer, really. He still has a lot of sway and he will never take the gun biz from you. He thinks it is far too dangerous and I also suspect he does not think too highly of you anymore. He fears you are running SAMCRO into the ground and doesn't want to go down with you."

Cold anger flooded into Jax’s veins. What did Packer know? SAMDINO was a quiet charter and couldn’t even imagine the problems SAMCRO had to deal with. "I hope you are not thinking the same."

"Of course not but I can’t do more with my president against me. I am sure you know the feeling."

"I do. And the solution always was to go behind Clay’s back. Maybe you should try to find something on Packer, something that would damage his authority."

A shark-like smile spread on Packer's face. "Playing dirty Jax? I like that. The problem is that Packer is squeaky clean. I look hard but he doesn’t do any side deals, he is tight with most of the club, doesn't even cheat on his old lady. A saint really, with a lot of convictions. Admirable, if old-fashioned."

Jax took the time to light a cigarette and take a drag. "Then I guess he just has to go away."

For once he had taken Hawk by surprise. "You mean kill him?"

"If it comes to that," Jax said, giving him a hard look. "It is not like something like this has never happened before."

Hawk looked at him then it all fell into place. "Clay? Jesus Christ."

"Had to be done."

Hawk shook his head. "I could never do that...I mean everybody would know it was me. And Packer, he has his faults but this is not how he should go."

Jax gave him a hard look. "This deal is for the good of the club. It will save both our charters, mine from too much heat and yours from going broke. We can't let a fool like Packer sabotage it. This has to be done, Hawk. If he cannot be convinced, he has to step aside. Sometimes sacrifices have to be made."

"I get that but still…" Hawk took a deep breath. "I will try to talk to him again. Maybe he will see reason."

"I hope so," Jax said, "but Happy will come with you in any case. He can handle things if push comes to shove. You just have to let him work. That okay with you?"

Hawk looked very green in the face but gave another short nod. "Yeah okay. You guys can discuss the details. I will wait by my bike."

Jax slapped his back and tried to give him a reassuring smile. Hawk moved away and SAMCRO president turned back to Happy whose face was as expressionless as always. "Make sure this gets done. If Packer doesn’t see reason, we have to take him out. If this happens, make it quick and as painless as possible. Would be best for us if it looked like an accident or natural causes. And Hawk has to have an alibi for the time. Once it is done, get back here as soon as possible."

"Understood," Happy replied.

"I keep waiting for you to object."

Happy gave a shrug, "Not my place to question you, boss. Besides, Hawk seems like a good guy."

"Yeah, he does," Jax said with a small smile. He saw a lot of himself in Hawk, he just hoped the SAMDINO VP wouldn’t have quite as much trouble leading his club as he had. "Take care, I will see you soon."

*   *   *   *   *

"Where is Happy?" Chibs asked him when he arrived back at the clubhouse.

"Off in the south for a time. He is helping Hawk from SAMDINO. A favor to make sure they will take the gun business form us. He should be back in a couple of days."

"Is this a good idea? We could use all the help we can get against Lin."

"Can't be helped," Jax said. "And I already have a plan to handle Lin. But first I want to tell you something."

He gave Chibs the gist of his deal with Patterson. The Scot did not seemed pleased at all. "That wasn't a good idea, Jackie. Patterson will be livid if we can’t deliver Marks to her and then she will be even more on our asses."

"I had to give her something. We have to talk to Roosevelt if we want to figure out what has happened that night and it will give us a way to get rid of Marks."

"I don't think being in prison will stop Marks much with all the sway he has on the street. It certainly wouldn't have stopped Pope."

"Marks isn't Pope," Jax said. "He is just a jumped-up imposter. The moment he shows weakness everyone will abandon him. I wouldn’t even be surprised if somebody offed him in prison."

Chibs still looked worried. "I hope you are right about that"

"We will cross the bridge when we get there. First, I will talk to Lin and see if we can move this one forward."

*   *   *   *   *

Lin was eager to meet them and looked almost happy to see Jax and Chibs. "I found the guns you promised."

Jax was unable to keep the grin of his face. "See, I told you they were there."

"And I didn’t believe it until I saw them. It is a good first step but we still have a war to win. How is it going with Marks?"

"He still thinks I am on his side but I have no idea how long it can go on. But I think I found the perfect way to strike for us. Marks is overseeing a gun deal with the Irish – personally this time."

Lin frowned. "I thought he never did this kind of stuff in person."

"He has to this time. The Irish are pissed at him for getting involved in a gang war and are threatening to cut the gun supply. He can't risk to lose it when he is fighting both of us. And they really like to do their deals face-to-face with a person they can trust. This was the problem I had with Galen. He didn't like me so the whole cooperation went to shit. Marks will have the same problem if he doesn't keep the Irish happy."

"And he wants you there?"

"Surprisingly yes," Jax said, giving him a grin. "He wants me to keep the Irish happy and maybe give them the assurance that SAMCRO will go back to guns if they want to."

Chibs shook his head. "The nerve of him, forcing us to take back the business we just gave up because he screwed up."

"He really does not know his place" Jax agreed. "But this is exactly what we need to end this war."

"I am listening," Lin said.

"The Irish are twichy and don’t really trust him yet which means Marks can’t meet him with a whole army in tow. He wants us to secure the meet instead, giving a familiar face to the transaction. This gives us time and place of a critical meet where Marks will be without his usual protection. This is what we are waiting for. If you raid the meet and we switch sides, we can end this war in one quick strike."

"Sounds very risky."

"Everything is risky at this point," Jax said. "And we won't get another chance like that. Marks will make up the Irish and will no longer have anyone to impress. And the longer we wait, the higher the risk for me becomes. I can’t keep up playing the double agent forever and without me you will lose your only source of information. We have the advantage now and it is time to press it, Henry.

"If it is so easy why don't you kill Marks on your own?" Lin asked.

"I don't have the men. Marks won’t show up alone and Irish won’t let me open fire like that. It might be possible but it would be unnecessary risky. But if you bring your men, it should be easy as pie. Come on, Henry, you know this will be the best chance we could ever get."

Lin looked thoughtful. "Maybe. I will need more information."

"The clock is ticking here, the meet is tomorrow and you will need some time to prepare."

He looked at Ryu who nodded. "Alright, Teller, we will give it a shot."

"Good. But watch where you guys are shooting at, I want to walk out of there alive."

"I will try," Lin said. Jax did not like his smile at the words.

*   *   *   *   *

Jax came home this evening feeling both drained and very apprehensive. Tomorrow would be a decisive day which could bring the war close to an end. Jax he could not wait for this to happen. The weight of the gavel was heavier than he ever before and it was hard for him to find any joy in his presidency. He really hoped this would pass once the gang war was over. Being the leader of SAMCRO was the only thing left for him now that Tara was gone and it was hard to even imagine living without it. He heard the clatter of plates from the kitchen, probably Gemma who was doing the dishes after tucking in the boys. He should head to bed soon as well, he had a hard day before him tomorrow - though he doubted he would get much sleep this night. But he should check on her first. He walked to the kitchen and was surprised to find Wendy rather than Gemma. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, hey," Wendy said, ignoring the rather cold greeting. "I am filling in for Gemma. She asked if I could take over."

"Did she?" Jax asked, his anger at his mother coming back at the words. "Why? What's going on?"

Wendy shrugged. "She didn't really say. Only said that she had some things to take care off. I thought she had told you. I really don't want to cause any trouble, Jax."

"It's okay," Jax said who felt calmer now that the first surprise had passed. "Maybe some time off it is good for her, she has not been herself the last days."

"Yeah, I thought something was off, she seemed distracted by something. So you don't mind me helping here?"

"No, I think it is good you help Gemma and maybe you should take over most of the time. I think she could use a vacation."

"Of course, that would be great."

She seemed really happy about it and Jax felt a bit touched by this despite himself. It was good to see somebody was there for the boys, he definitely wasn't spending as much time as he should with them. Wendy would never be even tenth of the mother Tara had been but it beat having no mother. Maybe he might tell Abel about her after all. But this was a discussion for another time. "Thank you, Wendy. I will take a shower and go to bed. Let yourself out once you are down."

He kissed her cheek and left, not missing the small blush on her face.

*   *   *   *   *

Lin was honestly supplied that Teller had not lied after all, there was Marks moving into the hut next to teller, all nestled up for a comfortable meet with the Irish. Just as promised, there were few black faces visible form the distance. He could not see the Irish from this position and guessed they might not have arrived yet. All in all, things were looking very well. "Any sign they are onto us?" he asked passing the binoculars to Ryu.

"No, we were careful," Ryu said, "we should be in perfect position for a quick strike."

"Good, let's do it. Let’s keep it simple. We get in, start firing and only stop when nobody moves anymore."

"What about Teller? You said you would spare him."

Lin scoffed. "I am not going to take any risks for him. He will just have to be lucky. Let's go."

They got into the cars and readied their guns. The meet was at a deserted cabin in the middle of nowhere much closer to Charming than to Oakland. Lin guessed Marks had not expected the Chinese to come this far north. Well, he would have been right about that if Teller was not such backstabbing liar. Good thing it would work for Lin this time.

They quickly closed the distance, jumped out of the car and started firing at any window they could find. Glass splintered, bullets ricocheted and men shouted. Lin stayed back a bit but watched with glee. They had no chance! He was sure almost everyone in the shack was dead already and they hadn’t even had a chance to fire back. It could not have gone any better.

 "Inside," Ryu said, leading them forwards toward the cabin entrance. Lin could not quite process what happened next. There was a booming sound, a wave of heat and suddenly he was lying on his back and looking up into the blue sky. Dust seemed to be all around him. His head was ringing and he could not form a clear thought. What had happened? Was this bullets he was hearing? Then a man stepped into view. He was tall, blond and looking at him menacingly: Teller. The MC president bent down and gave him a soft slap in the face. "Can you hear me, Henry?"

Lin started to speak and found it difficult. "What happened?"

Teller smiled at him and Lin had never hated this smile more. "Get him up."

Two others grabbed him by the arms and roughly dragged him to his feet. He saw the smoking holes in front of the cabin, the bodies of his men and what looked like half the Sons of Anarchy MC standing around him. Then he spotted Marks casually looking at him from a bit farther away. Teller smiled at him murderously and Lin realized what had happened.

*   *   *   *   *

Triumph like had never felt before flooded Jax's veins. This was it, now he would get the justice he had wanted for so long! Lin was helpless in front of him, held up by Chibs and Quinn and unable to do anything to stop him.  And to make things even better Lin seemed to have come to enough to understand what was happening. "Teller you backstabbing piece of shit!"

"Says the guy who has my wife killed and then lies in my face about it!" Jax snarled.

"How often do I have to tell you? I had nothing to do with that!"

Jax punched him. It was as if the blow triggered something in him and before he knew it he was punching Lin again. And again. And again. Quinn and Chibs had difficulties holding Lin up through the flurry of blows. Jax kept pounding away until he noticed someone calling him. Chibs. "I think he had enough, Jackie. Let’s get it done."

A short look at Lin showed Jax that the Scot had a point. He drew his knife – a gun would be far too quick – and moved even closer to the Chinese mobster. "This is for Tara," he whispered and started stabbing Lin. He gave it eight stabs before he stood back and motioned for Quinn and Chibs to release the body. Lin sank to the ground, obviously dead. Jax released his breath and felt like a weight had shifted from him. It still hurt that Tara was gone but he had avenged her, he had done all he could to make that right. Now he could steer the club back into calmer waters and take care of the boys. They deserved their dad to be around more. Chibs approached him and hugged him. "It is over brother, we have done it."

"Yeah," Jax said when they parted, feeling unusually raw and emotional. He looked around. The devastation look alarming but all in all the plan had worked exactly as planned. Marks had been in it from the start. Jax had brought him on board by promising a quick end to the war with Lin. The mobster had been reluctant at first but some sweet-talking had done the trick. It had actually been him who had come up with the final ambush plan – some well-planted explosives next to the cabin entrance that could be detonated remotely once Lin’s guys were in place. The detonation had been a little stronger than expected but they had still been able to safely wait it out in the cabin and then sweep up the survivors. Now, Lin was dead and Jax could hardly believe it. Wherever Tara was, he hoped she could see that. Marks approached him. "I have to admit I had my doubts but this was a good plan."

"Couldn't have done it without you," Jax said. "You think this is enough to handle the Chinese?"

Marks nodded. "They will not be able to recover form that. I guess the Mayans and the Niners will start carving up the Chinese territory as soon as the news goes out. Lin's men will probably flee when this happens unless they are stupid enough to resist. In either case I do not expect any more trouble for both of us. Tyler has a bit of work cut out for him but I am sure he can handle it."

"Me too," Jax agreed. "So are we good, August?"

"I think we are, Jackson. It is good that we were able to leave this unfortunate war behind us and to give you some closer. This give us the freedom to go back to business. And I might need your help for that."

"What do you mean?"

"Let’s walk for a bit," Marks said, leading him away from the others.

Jax followed and listened carefully to what his business partner had to say.

*   *   *   *   *

The mood in the Chapel couldn’t be more different than the last time they had been here. Everyone was smiling and Juke could barely control the grin on his face. They had done it! The war was won. After all the doubts and the fear it had been almost too easy. Jax's plan might have been risky as fuck but damn it was effective. They had used Marks perfectly and now the Chinese would be wiped away by the Mayans and the Niners with no more danger for them. Juice had not felt this happy for a long time and even Chibs was smiling. Jax had just finished his report on the meet and cheers erupted in the room. Jax took the credit with grace, dutifully playing the wise patriarch who had known better after all. Juice wondered if Quinn and the others felt stupid right now or if they still thought their pathetic little rebellion had been justified. He was glad that he had stayed in Jax's corner.

"I can't believe we managed to pull that off," Montez said.

"Me neither," Quinn said. "So many things could have gone wrong. Marks could have killed you. Lin could have killed you. The bombs could have blown you up instead of the Chinese. Or Lin simply couldn't have shown up."

"Aye," Chibs said. "But nothing like this has happened. And this was the only way this could be done."

"There is one setback, though," Jax said. "Marks wants us to take back the gun business."

Silence fell at the words. "What do you mean?" Bobby asked.

"The Irish are pissed at him, thinking he pull them into some gang war they never wanted. They are seriously considering to pull out and finding someone else to sell their guns – probably us. If this happens, they will come down hard on us. Marks thinks the best thing would be to get in front of this: We take the business back and rebuild our relationship with the Irish."

"He can't be serious," Juice said. "What about the heat from Patterson?"

"He said he would use his contacts to keep us safe," Jax said. "For a cut of the profits, or course. 10 percent."

"That sounds more like extortion than any help. Are we going along with it?"

"Of course not," Jax scoffed. "Marks still seems to think that we work for him instead of with him. It is time to remind him he is not calling the shots. And we still have Tig to avenge."

The relaxed mood drained from the room in seconds. "You want to kill Marks?" Bobby asked.

"He deserves it," Jax said immediately. "Look at what he did to Tig! How he thinks he can just push us around. How he tries to get us back into the business we all wanted to give up. We can’t go on like that, we have to get rid of him if we ever want to be free again."

"We barely won the last war!" Quinn said. "We can't take on Marks as well."

"So you want to push guns again?" Jax asked.

Quinn shrugged. "It beats getting killed."

"Patterson will not accept us getting back into the gun business," Juice said. "She will hound us every second of the way."

"You think I am afraid from some fat black bitch? Please, she never got even close to doing any real damage to us."

"She almost threw Tara in jail!" Jax shouted. "We tried to throw her off but in the end I had to make a deal to keep us safe. And what about all the narrow saves before that? We could have gone down dozens of times! And you are going to let Marks force you to do that again?"

"We have been forced before," Quinn pointed out. "We played along with the Irish and I didn't hear you say anything about that."

"Did you miss the part where I killed Galen?" Jax said, his voice dangerously low now.

"No, but I also did not miss the part where you got West killed with your ridiculously complicated revenge scheme. And now you want to start the next war? Do you think Marks does not expect something like this? He is probably just waiting for us to make a wrong move. And from what I heard about you and Pope, Marks is not an enemy to taken lightly. If we screw up here, the club will be finished. I think it is safer to just play along. With Marks’s help, it should be easy to handle the cops."

Juice did not like to admit it but the big fool made a lot of sense here. He remembered those dark days when Pope had almost casually gotten all their leading members arrested, had arranged Ope's death and nearly had sentenced Tig to a long torturous life in prison. He had rarely felt as powerless as he had back then. Jax had managed to loosen this grip but they had never broken free of Pope completely. And even their mild progress had taken a lot of carefully planning, time and a bit of luck. And now they should do the same with Marks expecting it? It really seemed reckless, Quinn was right about that. But what was the alternative? Could they really go back to guns? It seemed insane when they had a DA with a hard-on on their backs but then again, Marks had no problem with the cops at all. Maybe his contacts and deep pockets would make a difference. Maybe this would be the best of both worlds, a welcome step back to the old days when they could pretty much do whatever they liked. But maybe this was just wishful thinking.

"And you just want to forget the fact that he killed Tig?" Jax asked, startling Juice out of his thoughts.

"Strange, I thought you killed him," Quinn said matter-of-factly.

A very ugly look spread on Jax's face. "Marks forced my hand."

"I don't doubt that," Quinn said. "I just doubt your sudden interest in revenge. Last time, you didn't seem too broken up about Tig’s death."

"Don't tell me how I feel," Jax said and there was an edge to his voice that made Juice shiver. Quinn was getting dangerously close to a bullet in the face if he continued like that.

"Boys, enough," Bobby said. "We should discuss this civilly."

"Alright," Jax said, leaning back in his chair. "Let’s cut through the bullshit. I call a vote. Do we take revenge against Marks? Yay."

"Yay," Juice said. He was not sure if this was the right thing to do but he was with Jax for better or worse.

"Nay," said Quinn,

"No," Rat continued.

Montez thought for a moment than shook his head. "Sorry, no."

Chibs followed. "Aye. Marks can't get away with what he did to Tig."

Three to three. Which meant that Bobby had the last word. Juice had not expected the vote to be this close and he had the nagging feeling that the former VP was not on board with the plan. Bobby took his time to consider. "I don't like getting back into guns but I don't think we can take on Marks right now. Quinn is right, he will expect us to do something like this and is probably well prepared. We would run straight into whatever trap he has prepared for us. I'm sorry, Jax, but we have to sit this one out. Nay."

Stunned silence followed and Jax's face showed pure disbelief to a moment. Then he focused and slammed down the gavel. "Alright, I will tell August we are on board for now. I guess we are done."

Juice stayed behind for a moment, turning to face Jax. "I am sure they will see reason eventually."

The president only nodded, deep in thought. Juice left him to stew, a very nasty feeling in his stomach.

*   *   *   *   *

Chibs had not seen this one coming. He had gotten used to the thought of Jax getting whatever he wanted and the vote left him feeling a bit stunned. This was an unexpected callback to the old times where Jax and Clay had squabbled for power in the club and every vote had been a fight. He wondered what was going on. That Rat, Quinn or the others were too scared to stand up to Marks did not surprise him but Bobby was unexpected to say the least. Was he trying to start a power struggle with Jax? Chibs hoped not, the last thing the club needed was a leadership fight.

He found Bobby at the bar where he was just filling shots for both of them. "Thought you would come."

"Aye?"

"Yeah," Bobby said. "I guessed you weren’t expecting me to vote nay."

"Aye I didn’t. I don’t blame the new members for getting cold feet but I thought you would know better."

Bobby smiled at that. "Strange, I thought the same thing about you. I expected Jax and Juice to rush straight into battle again but I thought you would be the clever one."

"What is going on here, Bobby? You making a play for the gavel?"

"Do you really think that, brother? Have I ever given you the impression that I want the damn thing?"

Chibs thought for a moment. "No, not really."

"I am just looking out for the club. We can’t rush into another fight with Marks. We have to put our emotions aside."

"That wouldn’t be as easy to say if you had seen Tig die. We can't let Marks get away with it."

"We won't," Bobby said. "Trust me, eventually we will break away from Marks and then we will kill him for what he did to Tig. But Quinn was right about everything he said. Marks will expect us to resist and is more than capable of wiping us out. Whether with his gangs or with the law. And we have not recovered from the war with Lin. It would be suicide to attack him now."

"Aye, maybe," Chibs said. He did not like it at all but Bobby was making a lot of sense. "I just don’t think Jackie will see it the same way."

"Ah, he will come around. He might pout for a bit but I am sure he will see reason eventually."

The Scot admired Bobby’s optimism. He was not convinced at all.

*   *   *   *   *

Patterson looked at the photo her Stockton contacts had send her in disbelief. It showed Henry Lin clearly dead by what looked like a dozen stab wounds into the chest. They had found what remained of the Chinese mobster in the smoking ruins of some sort of cabin somewhere in the wilderness close to Stockton. This obviously was the result of a gang war and it seemed like the Chinese had been at the losing side this time. Stockton PD was still busy collecting evidence but Patterson would be surprised if they managed to nail anyone. Well, it was not her jurisdiction anyhow. Crime usually enraged her but she could not be offended by this murder. It was sad that she had not been able to stop Teller from taking the law into his own hands but maybe the gang war would come to an end now and no more blood would be spilled. She wondered what this meant for their deal. If Teller still had his doubts about what happened that night they had not stopped him from killing Lin in what looked like pretty brutal fashion. Well, she would just have to wait and see. Roosevelt should be fit for questioning any day now and she was very interested in what he had to say.

*   *   *   *   *

"I must admit I am surprised, Jackson" Marks said. "I did not except you guys to accept my proposal that quickly."

"It was a tight vote," Jax said. "You making me kill Tig did not help by the way."

"You know I had to send a message there. And I chose him quite deliberately."

"What do you mean?" Jax asked.

"It was the perfect choice for both of us. I managed to tie up the old feud between him and Pope and you lost someone you were willing to sacrifice before. I thought making you kill him would get the point across without burning too many bridges."

"I can't say I liked Tig much," Jax said. "But something like this can never happen again."

"If everything works out as I plan, I can guarantee you that it won’t," Marks said, looking entirely too pleased with himself. He had all the cards at the moment and knew it. Jax found it quite annoying.

"How are we going on with the Irish?" He asked. "Should I reach out to Conner and set a meet?"

Marks shook his head. "I will take care of it. You just wait for a call. Connor might contact you to confirm that you are really back on board. Once you confirm we can work out the details."

"We still have Patterson to worry about," Jax said. "Until she leaves office she will have us under a microscope. We will either need a lot of extra precautions or someone to keep her in check."

"Don’t worry, I will handle her, you just have to keep the Irish happy."

Jax never had felt more powerless in his life. He was getting reduced to an errand boy. "As you wish."

*   *   *   *   *

The meet with the Irish was much closer to Oakland than other before which in Jax’s mind didn’t quite fit the message Marks wanted to send. But he would leave this problem for his self-styled new boss to figure out. The mobster had made it quite clear that he saw Jax as his servant, not his partner so Jax was not going to save him from screwing up the meet with the Irish. But he had to admit he did not like the odds too much should something go down. He was surrounded by Marks’s personal guard and Niners while only having Chibs and Bobby as a backup. He had wanted to bring at least Juice along – Happy was still down south with SAMDINO – but Marks had insisted to hand-pick which members of the Sons should be there. Apparently he wanted Chibs and Jax to show respect and Bobby because of his "great diplomatic knowledge". Jax wondered where Marks had gotten that impression – as far as he knew Marks and Bobby had never met – but it had not been his place to question it. Bobby kept throwing him nervous glances and Jax was not surprised – their relationship was still strained to say the least.

The only good thing about this farce was that he had little to do during the meet. He was just here to look pretty, a familiar face for this new joint venture. And he guessed the location was pretty good: A nice respectable, looking warehouse in what would soon be a business district but was now still under construction – by Marks Enterprises, obviously. It even had a back exit they could use if things got dangerous – after what happened to Lin, Jax could appreciate these escape routes even more than before. Though there was one detail that was less than ideal: The warehouse was a bit too big for such a deal – usually these meets happened outside or in some other open space so both parties could see what was happening – and left a lot of space for Marks’s muscle to hide in. Tyler was here as well though the other Niners were conspicuously absent. It seemed like he was just as much as puppet here as Jax, was playing whatever role Marks wanted him to. Jax guessed Tyler’s task was to show the Irish that there was no bad blood and that the Niners would not object the Sons taking back the gun trade despite the painful financial losses.

Overall, Jax was impressed with the effort Marks had put in. The Oakland kingpin really wanted this deal to happen and the Sons president guessed it might even work out. It was all about keeping the status quo. For all their considerable resourcefulness – maintaining an international illegal arms trade was no picnic – the Irish did not react well to change. They had their nice, save traditional MC club partner and they wanted to keep it that way. Ignoring this was what had gotten Jax into this mess in the first place. He had pushed too hard for a change the Irish could not accept, no matter how well his arguments were. It was clear now but Jax had been too blind to see it at the time. He really wished SAMDINO had taken the business from them. If that had happened, things would look very different today.

They had to wait a bit for the Irish and Jax was starting to get nervous when Connor arrived, his own men trailing behind them. The Irish had come in greater force than usual and it was clear to Jax that they were prepared for everything, despite the conscious effort to appear unthreatening. Not that it surprised him, Connor had to be twitchy after their dust-up with the Chinese and probably had the Kings breathing down his neck. Which meant that he was probably desperate for a deal to bring back home just like the one he would be offered here. All Connor had to do was to leave out Marks’s involvement and the Kings would eat it up in a heartbeat. The plan was clever, Jax had to give Marks that.

Connor shook hands with both of them. "Gentlemen, good to see you. I am glad we could make this work."

Given the money he was about earn, this was not that surprising to Jax. He left the talking to Marks. It was his show, he should do at least some of the work.

"As am I," Marks said. "I am sure this new arrangement will make everyone happy. With your merchandise, the Son's expertise and my contacts it should be easy to gradually expand the customer base for as much supply as you can deliver."

"I understand we will be working with the Sons again," Connor asked, looking at Jax.

"That’s right," Jax said, thinking it was time for him to play his part. "You will sell to us and we will redistribute just like in old times. No contact to August, he will just keep the cops of our backs. But he is our partner and his fee will come from our end. I think the kings will be happy to hear that."

"Probably, "Connor said, "but we should take it one step at a time and I better not show up there empty handed. I was promised a deal. We brought the guns you wanted. Now please show me the money."

Jax nodded to Chibs who took a heavy duffle bag and passed it to Conner. The money was Marks's but the Irish were not supposed to know that. It would be easier for them to think nothing had changed. "All here, Con," the Scot said, "feel free to count it."

Connor signaled his men who started to riffle through the money. Jax did not expect them to find anything. It would be beyond foolish of Marks to try any shit at this point and he really did not have to skimp on the money – though it would be a great way to screw Jax over.

"I will gladly come whenever I am needed," Marks said. "But I agree with Jax that you should directly deal with the Sons. It keeps me focused on handling the cops and makes sure that you can do business just like in the old days."

"Agreed," Connor said. "I usually wouldn't have pushed for you to be here but I wanted to see that there is no tension between the two of you. I can't have you as a silent partner if you are fighting with the Sons."

"Nobody is fighting, Connor," Jax said. "We are all friends here."

"That's good to know," Connor said, not even bothering to hide his skepticism. Jax could hardly blame him but he knew that it was a done deal. As long as the counting did not find anything, this new partnership was iron-clad. The Irish turned to watch his men counting and checking for fakes, ending for conversation for now.

Tyler used the pause to approach Marks. He spoke just loud enough for Jax to hear, leaving Connor unaware of what was happening. "I need to borrow Teller for a sec, boss. We have some problems in Stockton with Barosky."

"Anything serious?" Marks asked.

"Some bullshit about his cut. I wouldn’t bother you with it but I want to diffuse it quickly before my boys there do something stupid. It really won’t take long. All he just has to make a call to Barosky. We will be back before they are done counting."

"Alright," Marks said, not even bothering to ask Jax whether he wanted to play match-maker between him and the Niners.

Tyler nodded to Jax and the president move to follow him. "You with me," he whispered to Chibs who looked puzzled but nodded. Jax wanted to fetch Bobby as well who was quietly talking to Connor but Marks spoke first. "That should be enough men for a call. Hurry and get back here."

Jax jaw clenched at being bossed around like that but he nodded. Tyler led him deeper into the warehouse past the many guards and towards the back exit. When the men posted there looked surprised at that, the Niners boss just mumbled something about better call reception and moved them further outside. They stopped a view steps outside, blinking in the sunlight. Tyler looked really nervous now and seemed to be sweating. "I swear to God teller I have no idea what this is going to accomplish but here we are. But whatever you are planning better should work, I think we Marks knows something is up."

"Planning?" Chibs asked in surprise. "What’s going on, Jackie? Are we sabotaging the meet?"

"We are not doing anything," Jax said, checking his watch. "I outsourced this one. And it should start any second. Time for us to move out. Follow me."

As they were leaving the warehouse area, Jax's phone vibrated in his pocket and he did not have to check the message to know what was going on. His heart pumped faster and it took only second before the noise started. Screeching tires, shouts and gunshots a few seconds later. Tyler and Chibs both drew their weapons but Jax remained calm and just started to continue walking.

"What is going on?" Tyler asked.

"Jackie?"

"The cops are here," Jax said calmly leading them down across the street and down the corner, out of sight of the warehouse. "They will bust the meet and arrest everyone."

"What?" Tyler asked. "How the hell do they know where we meet?  Did you tell them?"

"Of course I did. It was the only way we would get rid of Marks. Even he can’t wiggle out of that one."

"Are you out of your mind?" Chibs asked. "Bobby is still in there!"

"I tried to pull him out but Marks was getting suspicious," Jax said. "There was no way I could have taken him with it. We will have to hope they don’t resist too much."

"And then what?" Chibs snarled. "He will get arrested and we are all on the hook for gun running! Jesus Christ, Jackie, what the hell were you thinking?"

"Don’t worry, I made a deal with Patterson. She will make sure no Son is charged for the deal. Wasn’t hard, she was exited enough to finally nail Marks."

"Holy shit!" Tyler said. "He will know it was us! We will be dead before the end of the week!"

"We won't be anything," Jax said firmly. "Marks is not Pope. His rule over Oakland is too shaky to recover from a setback like that. Once the news is out, all his partners will either try to save themselves or to secure a bit of his empire for him. Maybe some of his former friends will even take him out in prison to protect themselves. Trust me, Marks will have other things to worry about than us."

"You should have fucking told me!" Tyler said. "I never would have agreed to this!"

"Tyler, this is what you were waiting for. Marks is done and the Niners are independent again. Once the dust settles you will be in better shape than you have be for years. Do you really think, any of your men will be sad that Marks is gone?"

"No, not really but..."

"No buts, Tyler", Jax said firmly. "We can't afford any doubt now. You get out of here and get back to Oakland. Have your guys take some more of the Chinese’s turfs and start organizing for the time after Marks. Trust me, it will all work out well."

"Shit I hope you are right, Teller," Tyler said. He nervously looked around. "I have to find my guys."

"Come on," Jax said to Chibs as Tyler walked away, "I had Juice stash some bikes here."

He led the Scot over to a parking area where three Harleys were parked. They were standard bikes without no colors or mods so they wouldn’t stand out too much. It also made them very boring. Jax hope he would get his own bike back once Patterson was done with her investigation. He mounted his bike and noticed that Chibs was not doing the same "What are you waiting for? We have to get back to the club."

Chibs looked angrier than he had ever seen him. "We had a vote, Jackie. A vote that we wouldn't touch Marks."

"Yeah with one vote majority. And the only reason it turned out this way was that Happy wasn't there. You know he would have voted for retaliation."

"Then maybe you should have gotten his proxy."

"There was no time, Happy is busy down south..." Jax began before stopping himself. Chibs did not know what Happy was doing and he doubted he would appreciate the truth.

"Yeah?" the Scot asked. Tell me Jackie, what exactly is Happy doing with SAMDINO? Because I can't think of anything that is more important than what is happening here."

"You really want to discuss this here where the cops could find us any second?" Jax asked. "Let's get to the clubhouse before we rip each other’s head off."

He started his bike. Chibs glared at him for a moment before straddling his own and following him.

*   *   *   *   *

The ride to the clubhouse was uneventful but unpleasant. Jax could almost feel Chibs stewing behind him and it worried him more than he liked. For the second time in a couple of days he was seriously at odds with what was probably his closest remaining friend. He had always been able to count on Chibs's loyalty in the past, not matter how bloody or unpleasant it got. Losing this support, seemed ominous to Jax. He was still convinced that he had done the right but this did little to reassure him at the moment. Hopefully, Chibs would see reason in time, they could not afford any division in the rank right now.

Juice was waiting outside when they arrived at the clubhouse and immediately jumped to attention. "What is going on? Where is Bobby?"

"Ask him!" Chibs snarled. He dismounted and walked inside, leaving a very confused looking Juice in his wake.

"What is his problem?" he asked. "I didn't even do anything."

"Not your fault, Juice, he is just pissed at me."

The Puerto Rican seemed to consider asking about that but seemed to decide against it. "So how did the meet go?"

"We lost track of Bobby but otherwise it couldn't have gone better," Jax said, feeling a smile tuck on his face despite everything. "Marks should be finished by now."

A massive grin spread on Juice's face. "That’s great Jax. I knew you could do it."

"Thanks."

"But what is Chibs so pissed about then?"

"Me acting without a vote."

"Oh, come on," Juice groaned. "We all know the vote was bullshit. It would have been a tie if Happy had been there! And Marks deserved it!"

"I know but I guess Chibs does not see it this way. Anyway, I have to call Patterson and see what’s what. I will see you inside."

Juice nodded and gave him some privacy. Jax took out his cell and dialed Patterson’s number. He could wait for her to call, of course, but he needed to know if they had gotten Marks. If the Oakland kingpin had gotten away, they would need time to prepare for his retaliation. To his surprise, the DA answered almost immediately. "Patterson."

"How was your day, Madam DA? I heard you made quite a bust."

"Quite a bust indeed. Not everything played out as planned but I can say I am impressed, Teller. I did not think you could deliver."

Jax barely could keep the smile of his face. "Did you get Marks?"

"Oh yes. He was arrested on next to a stash of illegal firearms with a lot of money lying around. Add the possible terrorist connection to the real IRA I don't think he will ever see the outside of a prison cell again. If we are lucky we have just brought down what remains of Pope's empire and dealt a decisive blow to the IRA effort here in California."

"You are welcome," Jax said.  It might not be very classy but he couldn't help feel proud of this one. It had been a masterstroke. Risky as fuck but so damn worth it. The thought of Marks being gone from his life forever was exhilarating. "You got the Irish as well?"

"Some of them. Part of Marks’s goons tried resisting arrest first and wounded some of the officers before being killed. During the time some of the Irish seemed to have slipped away through a backdoor which I don’t remember you telling me about."

"I didn't know it existed until today. I fully expected to be arrested with everyone inside."

This was a lie. Tyler had given him some details about the meet beforehand and he thought it might be wise to slip away before the cavalry showed up. Not because he didn't trust Patterson to keep her word – he trusted her in this – but simply because he had feared getting into a gun fight – apparently with good reason. Obviously he couldn’t have told her about it, it would have ruined the whole point.

He wondered what the Irish thought about the situation. Had they figured out that Jax was behind the bust? Or would they blame Marks for the trouble? Obviously, he would have preferred busting Marks without the Irish involved but this just hadn't been possible. At the worst, they could have tied him to the money but a huge pile of money did not prove that much, Drugs were possible, of course, but the Sons were not involved in Marks’s drug deals so Jax couldn’t get a location for that, even with Tyler’s help. So there had been only one play here that made sure Marks was going to jail. If this pissed of the Ira, so be it, they would handle them just like they handled everything. Maybe the bust had crippled the IRA so much they would give up northern cali as a base of operation. If yes, then goodbye and good riddance. He would just see how this one went.  "Now, I think I have fulfilled my part of the bargain. How about yours?"

"Yes, I must admit you have been very helpful," Patterson said. "I am willing to do my part. I will talk with Eli Roosevelt tomorrow. I can arrange that you speak to him before me, as we agreed on"

"Good, thank you."

"There will be very tight security measures," the DA warned. "I won't give you any chance to hurt or intimidate him in any way."

"I really just want to talk to him," Jax said. "You do whatever you have to do. If necessary I go in there naked."

"I don't think that will be necessary, Mr. Teller." There was a slight hesitation. "I wonder, do you know what happened to Bobby Munson?"

"We got separated during the escape. I just wanted to ask if you have found him."

The resulting silence told Jax all he needed to know. "Jesus Christ..." he whispered.

"I am very sorry, we found him with a bullet in his head. My guess is that Marks shot him the moment we moved in. He must have suspected your involvement."

Jax felt his heart clench in his chest. He had known that this was a real possibility but this did not make it any less devastating. Any triumph he had felt disappeared and he suddenly felt very lost.

"I will make sure his body is returned to you as quickly as possible. Of course, we still have some tests to run," Patterson went on.

"Of course," Jax said, finding that he sounded a little choked. "Sorry, I have to go now. I will see you tomorrow."

He ended the call, his eyes suddenly feeling very wet. "Jax?" a voice asked. He turned and saw Juice standing there, looking as haunted as he felt. "What happened?"

Jax blinked the tears away and told him.

*   *   *   *   *

Jax could barely remember seeing the clubhouse in such a grim mood, at least not since Ope’s death. He had just broken the news and waited for the accusations to begin. Some part of him hoped beyond hope that maybe they would give him some peace to mourn Bobby but he knew this wasn’t likely. They probably didn’t think he cared and Jax wished for once that that was true. Bobby had helped raise him and try as he might, Jax could not imagine SAMCRO without him. What mde it worse that he still could not say he regretted what he had done. He kept going it over in his head but he was sure the move had been the right one. That should give him some comfort but it didn’t. It actually made things worse. If he had made a mistake he could learn from it and avoid it in the future. This was it was just random, an act of the God Jax did not  believe in, punishing him for his arrogance and transgressions by killing the kindest member the club had. There probably was irony in there but Jax did not find it very funny. To his surprise, Chibs had not started shouting at him yet. Maybe the older member would give him some peace after all.

The president was about to excuse himself when Ratboy broke the silence. "So, what happens now?"

"Patterson will return the body once they are done with the investigation," Jax said, wondering if his voice sounded as shaky as it felt. "Could be days or weeks, time will tell. We will give Bobby a proper burial then, should be more than enough time to set it up."

"Err, yeah, good, but I meant with Marks and the Irish," Ratboy said, looking like he expected to be hit for just asking the question.

Jax wondered about the callousness of their youngest member but guessed that Rat had not known Bobby that well. It was good he thinking ahead under these circumstances but Jax was in no mood for the subject. "Marks is finished and the Irish need to re-group. We will give them a day or two and then reach out to see what’s what. If everything goes like planned we will either never hear from them again or they will blame Marks for the bust. Both would be okay in my book."

"And if they knew we were responsible?"

"We will cross that bridge when we get there," Jax said, hoping Rat would get the message and leave him alone. To his surprise, the guy was wise enough to heed this warning.

Unfortunately for him, Quinn was not. "So that's it? We just sit and hope? Don't you think that maybe we should prepare for the case your brilliant plan pissed off one the most dangerous terrorist organizations of the planet? Who are, by the way, the same guys who blew up the old clubhouse and the club almost with it?"

"Not a good time, Quinn," Jax said and there was really no way the warning could be any clearer. Though Jax had the feeling Quinn was too stupid to heed it.

"Fuck your good time!" the former Nomad replied, proving Jax right. "I will not wait until it is convenient for you to talk about how you defied the club! We had a vote right here in the clubhouse saying that we wouldn’t attack Marks. And you just go off and do just that. And while you are at it, you make a deal with a fucking DA which brands us all as traitors. Do you even care about what happens when this gets out? The Irish will try to kill us all!"

"For all they knew, it was Marks who screwed them," Jax said. "We could have betrayed them to the cops for years and never did. Marks, however, was new and they never liked him anyhow. They will blame him and we will be off the hook."

"That's just wishful thinking!" Quinn said. "We are in great danger here and you just ignore it."

Jax felt his patience rapidly crumbling away. "You are such a pussy, Quinn. Always getting scared when things get a little bit dangerous. Maybe you should go back to do whatever you were doing when Bobby found you."

"Oh, you mean the guy who is dead because of you? Not counting Tig, of course. Or West."

"You know what? Fuck it!" Jax said, getting up. "I am done with justifying myself to a coward and a fool like you! After Bobby's funeral I want you to find a new charter! Maybe we have one that doesn’t mind cowards or fools. If anyone needs me, I will be in the Chapel."

He walked away. Any second longer and he would have beaten Quinn to a pulp. Now he had to suppress a smile at the dumbfounded look on the former Nomad’s face.

*   *   *   *   *

Juice wondered if he should go after Jax but decided against it. If he disturbed him now, he would probably be the next target for his rage and the Puerto Rican knew from experience how bad this could be. No, it was better to let him cool off and mourn Bobby for a bit. Unlike with Tig, Juice was certain that Jax honestly was sad about Bobby’s passing. It was not easy for Juice as well. Bobby and he had never been that close – as far as father figures went Juice had always preferred Clay or Chibs – but the older member had been part of SAMCRO forever and Juice literally did not know the club without him. And he had always had the biggest heart and the coolest head of the club. He would be missed both as the consciousness of the club and as a person. Juice went over to the bar and decided to drink to him. He guess it was what he was supposed to do and frankly he could a drink right now. He rummaged through the booze, selected a whiskey he knew Bobby had liked and poured himself a shot. There was movement at his edge of vision and he looked up to see Chibs approaching.

"Get me one as well, will ya?" the Scot asked.

The Puerto Rican nodded and did. He wasn't much in the mood for talking but he could hardly tell the VP to go away. Chibs took the glass and rose it. "To Bobby. He will be missed."

"To Bobby," Juice said. They clinked their classed and drank. They whiskey was Scotch and not to Juice's taste – he preferred Bourbon or Tequila – but he filled the next round dutifully and they both drank again.

"So what do you think about it?" Chibs asked as Juice was pouring the third round. It was open whether he meant Bobby's death or the smack-down between Quinn and Jax. Juice chose to think about the first. "I don't know. It is hard to accept he is dead. I keep waiting for someone to tell me it was all a misunderstanding. I wish I had been there. It might have made things easier."

"Wouldn't have helped," Chibs said darkly. "We were gone before it happen." He paused. "I told Jackie we shouldn't leave Bobby alone. But he just brushed me off."

"Jax probably thought Bobby would be fine and didn’t want to endanger the plan," Juice said. He did not want to have this conversation. He didn't even want to think about it, truth be told. He had the feeling that he might not like the conclusions he would arrive at.

"Fuck the plan!" Chibs snarled. "The plan sucked! What the hell was Jackie thinking? Did he really think this would work out? So many things could have gone wrong! The IRA always resists arrest! They don't care how many cops they kill! We could have died in the crossfire before even seeing Patterson. And this is even without Marks figuring out that we were to blame! He could have killed us too! And did he really think nobody would get suspicious if the Sons are the only one walking out there? The street would have known before the end of the day."

Juice had no good answer to that. "Well, but those things didn’t happen, did they? I mean, yeah, we lost Bobby but other than that things went perfectly, right?" He paused. "Shit it feels really bad to say something like that."

"Don't worry I know what you mean. And yeah, I guess it could have gone worse even if we do not know how the Irish are going to react. But still I never would have expected Jax to do something this insane. And doing it behind the club’s back is unacceptable! There is no way we can let him get away with it!"

"Chibs, please stop talking," Juice said. "You are bringing me into an impossible situation. I don't want to have to choose between you and Jax."

The Scot looked at him very shrewdly. "Does he still own you, Juicy? Or is he fucking you now and the hormones mess with your head?"

Juice flushed. "What...I...it is not like that! I just think I owe him, you know, for letting me back into the club."

Chibs snorted. "You don't own him anything and he didn't let you back in. He used you under threat of death."

"Yeah he did but he was also the one who let me back to the table once the debt was paid. He didn't have to do that. He could have kept me on the leash forever or just have me killed. So yeah, I am grateful for that and this is why I back him."

"You might have to stop that," the Scot said thoughtfully. "For the good of the club."

"What does that mean?" Juice asked, thinking this sounded rather ominous.

"I don't know yet," the older member continued, still in this very thoughtful voice. "I have to think."

This was dangerous, Juice wanted nothing to do with that. "I will let you think then."

He took a bottle of bourbon – he needed something nice to drink now – and retired to one of the booths with the intention of getting good and well drunk. Chibs should leave him out of this, he had no desire to be in any kind of power struggle. But as took the first sip he had the nagging feeling that this would not be an option.

*   *   *   *   *

Jax was unusually nervous when he moved through the hospital corridors. It was just a conversation with a man who couldn’t do him any harm but still his stomach was doing backflips. The niggling doubt that Gemma had not told him the truth was back with a vengeance and Jax feared that it might be proven right today. He really hoped that it had just been a mistake and that Roosevelt would confirm that it was Lin. Then he would know that he hadn’t started a gang war without cause even though he still would have to worry about his mother’s state of mind. Which was more than enough given that Gemma was pretty much the only family he had left. She had left with Nero this morning to have a look at this farm of his. Jax had been against it at first but finally had had to admit that a vacation might do her some good.

Well, first things first. The family drama had to wait until he had talked to Roosevelt. He approached the station were Patterson and two cops were already waiting for him. They quickly started searching him. Jax endured it easily, knowing they wouldn’t find anything – he had come completely unarmed. He had not liked to do so but he had really wanted to appear cooperative to Patterson.

He had expected the DA to be happy at nailing Marks but she seemed as serious as usual. Strange, but she probably only allowed herself a laugh a couple of times a year. As usual, she was all business with him. "We will let you go in alone but we will be right outside the door. Once you go, we will stop and check on Eli. If anything seems out of the usual, we arrest you and nail you for murder. I take a lot of risk for this, so no games, Teller."

"Don't worry," Jax said. "All I want is to talk to him."

"He's all clear," one of the cops said.

Finally, this search had taken much too long. Jax had half expected them to strip him after all, despite what Patterson had said. The DA nodded to him and he went inside, closing the door behind him. Roosevelt seemed to be waiting for him. Jax was shocked at how bad he looked. His bloodshot eyes had sunken deep into his sockets, he was way too thin and looked lost with the amount of machines around him. But despite everything he gave Jax what would pass for a smile. "Jax."

"Eli. I am really sorry this happened to you. How are you feeling?"

"About as good as I look," Roosevelt replied. "But things are looking up, I suppose."

"That's good," Jax said, feeling a bit nervous. Something about Roosevelt felt off. It was like he was angry at him for something but Jax did not know why. It was like coming home to an angry girlfriend without even knowing what you did. "I wanted to ask you what happened this night."

Roosevelt laughed. "I thought you off all people would know."

This didn’t make sense to Jax but he thought it might be best not ask. "I thought I knew but there are some doubts I just can't shake. I need the truth now, Eli, and I know you are the one who can give it to me. So could you please tell me what happened that night?"

Roosevelt considered for a moment and Jax really feared that the cop might refuse to talk to him after all. He had no idea why the sheriff was so pissed at him. Maybe he blamed him for getting shot since Jax had arguably been the reason for him being at the house but this would be quite unfair in the president’s mind. "I was at your house, waiting for you and Patterson to show up. Tara was inside, doing God knows what. I think she was still trying to wrap her head around what had happened. I remember having a bad feeling about all this. It just seemed so strange to me, you suddenly forgiving Tara and agreeing to go to jail for her. No offense, Jax.

"None taken," Jax said quietly. In hindsight, he could barely believe it himself.

"While I waited I heard something from the house. I called Tara but she didn’t answer so I went inside to investigate. It thought the sound had come from the kitchen." Roosevelt paused here for a second and gave Jax a very serious look. "I entered the kitchen and saw Tara lying there, covered in blood and obviously dead. Gemma was with her."

Jax needed a moment for this to sink in. "Gemma? What was she doing there?"

"She was in a state, kept babbling about how she had to do it. But there was no doubt there, Jax, she killed Tara. I guess she didn’t know of the deal and thought that Tara had betrayed you."

Jax’s thought went spinning. It sounded outlandish, insane even, but it also made terrible sense. He knew that his mother wouldn’t show mercy to any traitor, especially not Tara. Combined with a fit of rage and it started to sound frighteningly possible. And once the rage had passed and she had realized what she had done, she had probably realized that Jax could never forgive her. So she had come up with the lie to blame the Chinese. The lie that had set all this in motion and had probably killed dozens. All to protect the one dirty secret nobody – not even her son – could know. Which was also why she couldn’t have seen Chris Dunn this night. She hadn’t seen anyone. She wasn’t senile or drinking she was lying her ass off. Jesus Christ, it all made sense now! But one thing he couldn’t explain yet. "Who shot you? Don’t tell me Gemma somehow took your gun and shot you in the back."

Roosevelt chuckled. “No, I am not that sloppy. I don’t know who did it. Someone must have crept up behind me. To be honest, I thought it was you but now I am not so sure anymore."

So Gemma had an accomplice? Who was it? Unser? Would he try to kill a fellow cop for her? Probably, the love struck fool would do everything to impress a woman that wouldn’t take him if he was the last man on Earth. But this wasn’t important. He had to talk to his mother, he had to find out if she really had betrayed him like that. Everything looked like it but maybe, maybe he was wrong after all. Maybe there was some impossible explanation that made sense of what Roosevelt had seen. It was always possible that the cop was lying but Jax did not believe that. He blinked and was surprised to find tears in his eyes. "Sorry, I have to go."

He turned around and stormed out of the room. The guards were already waiting for him but Jax just moved past them. They would see Roosevelt was fine soon enough. He quickly walked to the exit, barely managing to keep the tears from flowing down his face.

*   *   *   *   *

Patterson decided not to send anyone after Teller but to check on Eli Roosevelt first. She entered the room and was quite relieve to find him alive and well. "How did it go?" she asked. "Seems like Teller was in quite a hurry to leave."

"After what I told him he is probably looking for his mother," Roosevelt replied, sounding thoughtful.

"So he believed you? No accusations or denial? He just took you at your word and believed that his mother killed the love of his life?"

"I had no reason to lie. And I think he at least suspected something was off, he mentioned that he had some doubts about this night."

"Well those doubts certainly did not stop him from murdering Henry Lin," the DA mentioned dryly. Knowing it had all been in vain made it even harder for her to excuse Teller’s actions. "Do you still think he shot you?"

"No, he seemed too surprised by the news. Had to be someone else. Maybe another Son or even Unser. He is very close to Gemma."

"Well, it does not matter much now. The APB is already out on Gemma. Once we have here we might get the last pieces of the puzzle. Thank you for your help, Eli. I never could have cracked this case without it."

"You're welcome," Roosevelt said. He paused. "You realize you just lied to Teller, right? Promising him that he would be the first to talk to me and then doing it yourself?"

Patterson smiled. "I just bent the rules a bit. He did the same with our last deal so I thought I would return the favor." She hesitated for a moment. "What do you think Teller will do if he finds Gemma before us?"

"I have honestly no idea. If it were anyone else, I would be sure that he would kill the poor bastard but I doubt even Teller would kill his own mother."

"Let's hope it does not come to that."

*   *   *   *   *

Jax tore through the clubhouse like a tornado, dialing both Nero and Gemma’s number over and over again. None of them answered. Shit, did she know he knew? Or where they just having some romantic picnic and didn’t want to be disturbed? This was not the time for that! He needed to talk to her or he would go crazy! He was just dialing again when Chibs gently took the phone out of his hands. "Mind telling us what is going on?" he asked.

The president looked at Chibs and the others in the clubhouse and suddenly realized what he had done. He had led them into a war convinced he was doing the right thing but now it had all been a lie. A lie he should have seen coming but had been too blind to recognize because it had come from his own mother. How should he ever make up for that? He considered lying again but they deserved better. So he blinked to clear the tears away, sat down and started talking.


	11. Long Live the King

Juice wondered if this was all very bad dream. If yes, he could not wait to wake up. Jax's tale had shaken everyone to the core and it had not helped that the president had completely broken down at the end of it. He had been sobbing in Chibs's arms – out of all people –, inconsolable no matter what the Scot whispered to him. Eventually, Chibs had dragged him away to the bowls of the clubhouse so he could lie down for a bit. Everyone but Juice had used the opportunity to get the hell away from the most unpleasant scene but the Puerto Rican had considered it his duty to stick around.

He was trying to wrap his head around what Jax had told him but it was easier said than done. Gemma was no saint but the magnitude of this betrayal was incredible. Though strangely, inexplicably it felt frighteningly familiar at the same time.  How was that possible? The thought had never even crossed his mind but now that he had heard it, he felt like it made sense on every level. Weird. He had the nasty feeling that he was missing some important piece.

Steps approached and Juice looked up to see Chibs coming. "How is he?"

"Trying to get some sleep," the Scot grunted. "He is no good for anything else right now."

"Anything I can do?"

 A small smile played on Chibs's face. "You could cuddle with him. I am sure he would like that."

"Very funny," Juice said dryly.

The VP sat down next to him and helped himself to the disgusting Scotch he liked. "Shit, Juicy, we are in quite a mess here."

"Yeah, no kidding. Do you think Jax is right about Gemma?"

"Has to be. I doubt this is all an elaborate scheme from Patterson to twist us up."

Yeah, probably not but Juice still found it hard to believe. "We have to find Gemma, See what she has to say for himself."

"Aye we have to," Chibs agreed. "The problem is what will happen when we find her."

"What do you mean?"

"If Gemma is guilty, Jax will kill her."

"You think Jax would kill his own mother?" Juice asked, not bothering to keep the disbelief out of his voice.

The Scot gave him an irritated look. "She killed Tara, Juice. Do you really think Jax could forgive this?"

"Of course not but come on, Chibs, this is his mom! I mean, I don't like my mom much but even I wouldn't dream about killing her! And Jax has always been close to Gem. He could never do that."

"Let’s hope you are right about that because no matter what he think he has to do, I doubt that Jax could bare killing his mother. He will try and I guess he could even do it if he is angry enough but once the rage is gone he will hate himself for it. It will be very ugly, Juicy."

"What should we do?" Juice asked, not liking the sound of that at all.

"I will talk to Jax," the Scot said calmly. "See where he is at. I am sure I can figure something out to get us all out of this mess."

Juice really hoped he was right.

*   *   *   *   *

Gemma had never seen herself as a farm girl but she had to admit that it was nice here. A bit too calm for her taste maybe but after all the trouble in Charming some peace was more than welcome. She had just had the most charming picnic with Nero and though it had felt too much like teenage romance for her liking, she had definitely enjoyed it. She was just freshening up for the follow-up in the rather large guest bedroom when she noticed her cell blinking. Right, she had left it in the house so they wouldn’t be disturbed. She picked it up and saw a lot of missed calls from Jax and a rather newer one from Juice. Not a good sign. She quickly checked the last message Jax had left. "Mom, it's me again. Please tell me it isn't true. Tell me you didn't kill Tara!" A short pause and what sounded like a sob followed. "Call me. You have to get back here."

Ice flooded into Gemma's veins, all thoughts of romance forgotten. How had Jax found out? Had Juice remembered things after all? But that didn't make any sense why would he want all this time just to rat her out now? Or had Roosevelt finally woken up? If yes, she not only had her son to worry about, the police was probably on her tail as well. What should she do now? She found that she had no idea. She had known that this day might come but she had never really sat down and came up with a plan for what she would do when the truth came out. Should she run? if yes, where to? She had no one else, only Nero and she doubted he could do much against Jax.

She was just wondering what to do when Nero stormed into the room, looking pale and haunted. "I just got a message from Jax. Tell me it isn't true, Gem! Tell me that you didn't kill Tara!"

Gemma considered lying but she guessed the time for lies was over. "I can't. It is true, Nero."

He gaped at her in complete disbelief for a moment. "How the hell could you do something like this, Mama?"

"I was at the house that night, looking for Jax. I thought Tara had betrayed him. He wasn’t there but suddenly I saw her! I just lost it, Nero. I was just so angry and scared for my boy. When I saw Tara in the house of the man she had stabbed in the back nothing could stop me anymore. By the time I realized what I was doing, it was too late. And then I learned that Jax had made a deal for her."

"Jesus, Gemma, why didn't you tell anyone?"

"I couldn't, Nero. I thought it would have been too painful for Jax and I didn't want to lose what remains of my family. I thought I could safely blame the Chinese. I never expected things to escalate like that. I wanted to make it right but I just couldn’t go back." She sighed. "Well, it doesn't matter now that Jax knows the truth."

The anger seemed to melt away from Nero and gave way to something that looked like fear. "What is going to happen now?"

"I guess that depends who finds me first," Gemma answered calmly. "The cops or Jax."

"You think he is going to kill you?" Nero asked as if he couldn't believe his ears.

"He has to," Gemma said, wondering why this would surprise Nero. "This is how he was raised."

"No, this can't happen! You have to do something, Gemma. You have to go to the cops. Make a deal or something."

"I am not going to prison, Nero. I don't want to die in some cold metal shoebox of a room."

"Then what are you going to do?"

"Don’t worry, baby. It's okay, I can take care of myself," she said, not wanting to pull him into this mess even further. She kissed his cheek. "Sorry it has to end this way. Guess I am just too old for new love."

"Gemma…," he murmured but did not finish the sentence.

"Goodbye, Nero," she said and left, walking to her car.

*   *   *   *   *

 The sound of his cell ringing woke Jax from his slumber. Disoriented, he blindly pawed at the offending device until he finally got a hold of it and managed to answer. "Hello?"

"It's me, boss," Happy’s gravelly voice answered.

"Hap, what's going on?"

"They found Packer dead in his house today. From what they told me, it looked like a heart attack."

It took a moment for the words to sink into Jax's head. Right, Happy was trying to tell him that he had taken care of Packer. He was not quite sure how the Sergeant-at-Arms had done it – some kind of poison, he guessed – but he didn't want to know the details in any case.

"Shit, I am sorry to hear that," he said, playing his part just in case somebody was listening in. Happy was probably smart enough to realize what he was doing. "Who will lead SAMDINO now?"

"Hawk, of course. They will vote him president today. Not sure who will be his VP yet. I want to stick around for the funeral if that's okay."

"Yeah okay. Jax said. It was a bit morbid but he expected things like that from Hap.  Things have calmed down here, Hap. No reason to rush it."

"Glad to hear it boss. See you soon."

Hap ended the call and Jax leaned back in bed. He had completely forgotten about Hap's task and having a backup plan for the Irish was the last thing on his mind right now. Gemma, he needed to take care of Gemma. Feeling restless again, he carefully got back on his feet and started getting dressed - he only wore his boxers right now. In hindsight, it was pretty embarrassing, falling apart like that in front of almost the whole club. Not that he hadn’t had a reason. It had felt unreal first but the more he thought about it, the more plausible Gemma killing Tara became. It was the final, tragic act of the whole endless Gemma / Tara pissing contest about who got more of Jax and more of the boys.

Jax wondered where he had gone wrong. Was this even his fault? He couldn't control his mother, she always did what she wanted. True, he was the reason Tara had been in the house in the first place but there was no reason he could have foreseen this. Not that it mattered because he had more than enough to feel guilty about. Bobby, Tig, West, the Diosa girls, they had all died in a war born out of a misunderstanding. Because he had swallowed the lies Gemma had told him hook, line and sinker. He was a fool. He should have gotten suspicious much sooner. Lin had no acted like he was waging a gang war! But he had not even considered this. He had just assumed Lin was playing games with him.

A knock on the door startled him out of his thought. Chibs stepped into the room. "Feeling better?"

"A bit," Jax said, helping himself to a cigarette. To be honest he just felt empty and lost. He was not even angry or hurt anymore. There was just...nothing. He wasn't sure how to feel about that. For the time being, he liked it better than the despair that had come before it. "What did I miss?"

"Not much. Seems like everything is calm. I started to track Gemma but no hard leads yet."

"What about the farm?"

"Nero said she left," the Scott replied. "Thought I guess he could be lying. I will send Juice up to handle it."

"We have to find her, Chibs," Jax said flatly.

"We will, brother. The question is what we are going to do once we do. I guess you will want to kill her?"

The thought was cold in Jax's head but yeah, he did want to kill her. It was what Tara deserved. "I have to."

"I don’t think you should."

Jax glared at him. "You think Gemma should live after what she did to Tara?"

"No, I guess she deserves it. But I don't think it should be you who does it. Killing her will be tough for any of us but it will twist you up the most. You should sit this one out. Let me handle it."

Jax shook his head. "I need to do it, Chibs. This is the only way I will get my peace."

"Jackie..."

"Just let me handle it, okay Chibs?"

The Scot sighed. "Alright, Jackie. I will ask you again once we have found Gemma. If you still feel you need to kill her, I won't stand in your way. Just let me handle the search for her, alright? I need you sharp to handle the Irish. And Patterson for that matter, I guess she is already searching for Gemma as well."

Right, Jax had not considered this until now. If Patterson knew – and he guessed Roosevelt would have told her by now – she would do everything to get Gemma arrested. It would be her final victory, nailing Tara's killer on addition to busting marks. If Gemma was unlucky, she would also get charged for the attack on Roosevelt. In any case, if his mother was arrested, Jax had no doubt that she would spend the rest of her days in prison. Which was not what he wanted at all. It would be a harsh punishment but it wouldn't be his revenge. And it was not the way they did things. The cops had no play in here, this was a family affair. "We have to find her first, Chibs. If she goes to jail, we won’t be able to reach her."

Chibs nodded. "Not a lot of members in women's prison. I will do what I can, Jackie. You better try and reach out to Connor. We should handle the Irish before we get another clubhouse blown up."

"Yeah," Jax said, "I will make the call. Thanks, Chibs."

The Scot grunted and turned to leave. Alone again, Jax lit a smoke and started dialing the number Connor had given him for emergencies. . An answering machine answered. "Speak after the beep" the generic female robot voice said.

"Connor it's Jax. I wanted to ask if you guys made it out. I don't know what happened, man, I think Marks or the Niner screwed up. Let me know if you are okay and if there is anything I can do. We are here, if you need us."

He hung up, hoping that his plan to take down Marks had not started the next gang war

*   *   *   *   *

Chibs tracked down Juice immediately after his conversation with Jax which the Scot supposed could have gone worse. It was clear to him now that Jax would not rest until he had killed Gemma and he also knew more than ever that this would destroy the president. Which left him in a bind. He could not let Jackie do even more damage to himself but at the same time he could not just ignore his wishes. Not just because it would be disrespectful, he knew that Jax would never accept his interference. Things could get very ugly if he tried to force Jax into sparing Gemma and more conflict was the last thing the club needed right now. He had to be smart about this. Luckily, a plan was starting to form in his head.

He found Juice obsessively cleaning up the clubhouse as he usually did when he was nervous. "I need you to go north. Try to find Gemma."

"Okay. But how should I find her? And what the hell should I do, if I find her?"

Chibs leaned forward and told him the plan.

*   *   *   *   *

Gemma had no real idea where she was going, she only had the notion of visiting her father for the last time. It probably wouldn't do much good – he probably wouldn’t even recognize her – but since her life seemed to come to a close it seemed like the right thing to do. As far as everything else went, she would just see what happened. If neither the police nor the club had found her until she was done with her father, she would have to figure out what to do, until then she would just see what happened. She was just so tired of everything and she could not shake the feeling that she had lost. After all the lies, all the crimes, all the betrayals she was left with nothing. Her power was gone, her family was gone and soon she would probably lose her freedom or her life as well. All she had left was hoping that she had given Abel and Thomas the best start in life, even if Thomas was probably too young to remember her. It was a bitter thought. Life had been so good just a few years ago. She as queen of SAMCRO with Clay at her side and Jax close to both her and the club. She wondered if had been JT's damned manuscript or Tara that had turned everything to shit.

Both maybe if she was honest. One to fill Jax's head with lies and stupid pipe dreams and one to rekindle the teenage romance she had hated from the started. And it wasn't like she hadn't tried to patch things up with Tara. She had held her hand all the time Jax had been in prison. She had stood up to Clay for her. But did anyone thank her for that? No, Tara had quickly decided that she wanted Jax and the boys all for herself after all. The most insulting part had been that she had thought she was just as strong as her. Stupid bitch, she had never even come close. And it had shown the moment this DA bitch had threatened her with prison. Gemma would have told her to stick it in her ass but of course the little doctor had been all twisted up about it. She had betrayed Jax and her whole family just because she was afraid of some bullshit charges. And this after all the trouble Gemma had went through to protect her.

Amidst these dark thoughts her phone vibrated. She had a look at it and saw that she had gotten a new text. It reminded her that she should probably toss the phone as soon as possible. It was a burner so the cops probably could not track her but maybe Juice could. But for the moment her curiosity got the better of her. She took one hand of the wheel to pick up the phone and quickly read the text:

"Gem, it's Chibs. If you want to live, meet me tomorrow at 10 at this location". An address not far from here followed. Gemma wondered what to make of that. Was this a trap? Her phone vibrated again and another message from Chibs appeared. "No word to Jax."

This last message left her more puzzled than ever. No word to Jax? Well, Jax probably wanted nothing more than to kill her and therefore wouldn’t like Chibs helping her. But why should the Scot do something like that. Had he forgiven her? She and Chibs had been through a lot together she could imagine doing something like that but it still was quite unexpected. Should she meet with him? It could be a trap but it also might be her last way out of this mess. And she doubted Jax was in a state to set up any complex schemes right now.

She slowed down the car and started typing a response.

*   *   *   *   *

"Long time no see, Gemma," Juice said, calmly sitting on his bike as if this was a casual encounter. Gemma wondered where this sudden calm came from. The Puerto Rican usually was skittish at best, prone to panic at the worst. But here he was looking completely relaxed and casual despite the fact he was just aiding and abetting a known fugitive. She wondered if he was high on something.

"Hey," she said, walking towards him. "I was expected to see Chibs."

Juice nodded. "Yeah, he wanted to come but Jax needs him in Charming. So he sent me instead. Jax thinks I am taking some time off."

"And you came alone?"

"Of course I did. We are doing this in secret here, Gem. I can hardly take the whole club to a joyride to Yosemite, right?"

"Right," Gemma said. "So how is this going to work?"

"Simple, Chibs does not want you to be found. He thinks Jax will kill you, no matter the damage it might do to him. He is not going to let Jax make this mistake and he thinks you deserve better. Despite everything I guess the guy still likes you."

Gemma felt a rush of gratitude at the morose Scotsman. They had been through a lot together and it was comforting that Chibs had not forgotten this. "What about you, Juice? You still like me?"

Juice shrugged. "I am just following orders here, Gem. What you did was wrong and stupid but I wasn’t Tara’s biggest fan either. And I think Chibs knows what he is doing. If he thinks this is the best solution, I will do what I can."

This wasn’t quite what she had wanted to hear but she guess she could not hope for much more. Given the fact that she had only recently tried to kill Juice – though he apparently did not remember that – she probably shouldn’t be surprised. And it did not matter much to be honest as long as he helped her disappear. "Where should I go? And please don’t say Mexico."

"No, Chibs asked the Irish for a favor. They will pick you up and get you to Belfast. They will keep safe from both the cops and SAMBEL but you can never come back to Charming. I know it sucks but it is the best we can do."

Belfast. She remember Clay offering the same thing to her not that long ago. She had considered it back then – if only briefly – and wondered if it would have been the right choice. Her life in Charming was over now anyways and that way she could have gotten out that way with a lot less pain both for her and Jax. Well, it did not matter now. She didn’t like the IRA much but it definitely was the best option she currently had. "Okay. How are we going to do this?"

Juice nodded towards the end of the parking lot where a path lead into the woods. "There is cabin a short walk from here. The Irish will pick you up there. Once I make the call, it will take them a couple of hours to fetch you. We should go now, I will take care of your car once you are at the cabin."

It was amazingly well prepared and Gemma couldn’t help being impressed by Chibs. Then again, the IRA probably often smuggled people to Belfast and they were close to their supply line. Should be easy for them to transport one woman. "Ok, let’s go.”

She took her luggage and followed Juice up the path. These were nice woods, Gemma noticed. Redwoods were growing here and she had always like these trees – not just because of the obvious club connection. They followed the path until they came into a clearing. Just as promised there was cabin there as well as other paths leading deeper into the woods.  Juice pulled out a key and unlocked the door. Gemma followed him inside. It seemed to be some kind of hunting cabin, dusty but quite nice. It would be easy enough to kill a few hours here.

Gemma was just starting to speak when Juice suddenly pulled his gun and pointed it on her. "Give me your gun, Gemma."

"Juice, what the hell are you doing?"

"You can’t be armed when you meet the Irish. They would definitely freak out. Sorry."

"Jesus how about asking nicely first?"

"Couldn’t risk you freaking out and starting to shoot me."

Wow, she couldn’t say this was quite undeserved but it still stung. But this couldn’t be the reason, something was wrong here. "What are you playing here, Juice? I don't buy it."

"You know, ever since the overdose I haven’t been one hundred percent, Juice said, almost sounding thoughtful.  Bad dreams, strange memories that didn’t seem quite real, it was all really confusing. I sometimes saw you in these moments and it seems like bad things were happening but I never really never really clicked with me until Jax told you had killed Tara. Things started to fall into place now and a couple of hours later I could remember everything. I know what happened that night."

"Juice whatever you think you know, it is not true...I…"

"No Gem, I am not buying your lies anymore. You killed Tara, I tried to help you cover it up and then you tried to kill me because I wanted to do the right thing! Do me a favor and at least admit what you did!"

"What was I supposed to do?" Gemma cried. "I couldn't let Jax know! Look at this did to him!"

"And this makes it okay to kill me? Are you out of your mind? Do you even care who dies for your lies? Do you care that Bobby, Tig and West are dead because of you? That we could all be dead if Jax hadn’t gotten us through the war with Lin and Marks?"

"Of course I care. Do you think I wanted this to happen? If I could do it again I never would have touched Tara in the first place! But there is nothing I can do now. Look, I am sorry for the overdose. I lost my head. Now please put down the gun. Soon I will be gone and the Irish can worry about me."

"The Irish aren't coming," Juice said very coolly. "And you are not going anywhere."

"What are you talking about? I thought Chibs wanted me to disappear."

"He does. But I don't. You tried to kill me, Gemma, I just can't let you walk away from it. Besides, I know that Jax will never stop looking for you. This is the only way this will be over for good."

Gemma wanted to say something but just as she opened her mouth Juice squeezed the trigger.

*   *   *   *   *

The bullet ripped through Gemma’s brow, leaving a clean hole and ending her life in an instance. She crumbled to the floor, blood slowly oozing from her head. Juice released the breath he had been holding and lowered the gun. He had expected to feel guilty for his action but felt liberated instead. He was free of his foolish alliance with Gemma and he had just liberated Jax as well. Now he only had to sell it to Chibs. He pulled out his cell and dialed his number. The Scot answered almost immediately. "Juice?"

"Can you talk?"

"Aye, I am alone in the Chapel. Did Gemma show up?"

"Yeah but things spun out of control a bit. She thought something was up, came at me with a gun. Had to put her down, Chibs."

Silence followed. "I thought I told you to stash her somewhere. Wait until I convinced the Irish to help her get out of the country."

"Yeah, but what was I supposed to do? I couldn't just let her run. The cops would have gotten her and who knows what Jax would have done then? And I obviously couldn’t let her kill me."

"No, I wasn’t suggesting that."

"Maybe this isn't too bad, Chibs." Juice suggested. "This way Jax has gotten his revenge without having to kill Gemma himself. He can't feel guilty about that, right? We tell him we wanted to bring Gemma to him so he could do whatever he liked. Things escalated and I had to kill her. I guess he will be pissed for a while but in the end, I think he will be grateful he didn't have to do it himself."

Chibs didn’t answer for a while, probably thinking hard. "You might be right about that but I doubt he will ever admit that. You should expect some blowback, Juicy."

"Yeah, I figured this much. Don’t worry, Chibs, I have a lot of experience with that."

Chibs sighed. "I guess you do. Get back here. Then we will figure out what to do with Jackie."

"What should I do with Gemma?" Juice dreaded the answer to this question. He wasn't Happy, he wasn't use to burying bodies in the woods. And just taking Gemma and dumping her into a shallow grave in the woods didn't feel right to him.

"Leave her," Chibs said after a moment of consideration. "Get rid of the gun and all other evidence. Once you have, give the police an anonymous tip. I want Jackie to know without a doubt that his mother is dead and I want the manhunt for her to end. Just make sure that you aren't arrested for it."

"I will, thanks Chibs."

The Scot grunted and cut the connection. Juice put down the phone and smiled. Seemed like he had gotten away with it.

*   *   *   *   *

Chibs sat Jax down in the Chapel and gently broke him the news about Gemma's death. Of course, he made it look like he had lured Gemma into a trap to get them back here rather than revealing his true plans. Once he had finished the story, Jax was quiet for a long time. He was blinking a lot and Chibs thought he saw tears in the president's eyes.

"I thought Juice wanted to go to Yosemite," Jax said, his voice croaky.

"He did, I pulled him away on the last minute. I wanted him on the job rather than any of our newer members."

Jax nodded. "Thanks for telling me."

"Of course, Jackie," Chibs said, more sure than ever that he had done the right thing. If just hearing about his mother's death shook Jax so much, he did not even want to imagine what killing her might have done to the president. He did not expect Jax to see that but he knew he was right. "Juice said it was quick, I don't think she suffered much."

The Scot was not quite sure why he said that, he just had the feeling that the younger man needed to hear it. Jax nodded and now the tears were freely flowing down his face. He sniffed and quickly wiped them away. "What happened to her?"

"Juice has given the cops an anonymous tip, so she will be found and probably be brought back here. It might be a risk to call it in but Juice and I didn't want to just leave her there. And the boy didn't feel comfortable burying her in the woods. I hope you don’t mind."

"No," Jax said, "you did well. I want to see her one more time."

Chibs nodded. Silence fell between them and Jax seemed deep in thought. Probably doing some soul-searching on how he felt about the death of his mother. Chibs could not even begin to imagine what the answer to this question might be and he was very glad that it was not his cross to bear. Usually he would leave Jax to it but they were not quite done. He waited a couple of minutes then broke the silence. "Jackie, there is something else we have to discuss. It is about the club."

Jax startled out of his thoughts and looked at him. "What about it?"

Chibs summoned up all his courage. "The last weeks were very hard on you. I think you should take some down time. Get your head straight, spend some time with your boys. I will make sure Diosa is re-built in the meantime."

"I'm okay Chibs."

"No, you aren’t, brother. To be honest, I would be worried if you were after what has happened. You lost your wife, your mother and several members in the last weeks, you need some time to process that. There is no weakness there."

"Sitting at home all the time is not going to help with that," Jax said. "Tara's ghost is everywhere and now that Gemma is gone, I have to think about her every time Abel asks me where grandma is. I need the club to get away to, Chibs."

This was not going as he had hoped. "Jackie, we can’t just go on after what has happened. Quinn and the others will not accept it. I am pretty sure they plan a vote for a new president."

Jax snorted. "Who the hell are they going to nominate? Quinn? That guy is a joke. He wouldn't get more than his own vote."

"I suspect they will want me to run against you," Chibs said.

"Which you won’t."

This was closer to an order than Chibs liked. "I won't let any more strive into the club. The last thing we need is a leadership struggle."

"Good, we don't have anything to worry then," Jax said, seeming completely unconcerned.

"We have to do something, Jackie. If we don't mend fences with them, Quinn and Montez will leave for sure. I am not sure about Rat Boy either. The guy seems to be very afraid of you."

"I won't grovel in front of cowards! If they don't want to be part of SAMCRO, they can leave. I will just ask Hawk to lend us a few guys until we have found new members. Should be easy enough."

"Jackie..."

"No, Chibs, I am not going to reward Quinn for his whining. This is my final word."

"Alright," Chibs said, getting up. "I will leave you be."

He left, already thinking hard.

*   *   *   *   *

The meet with the Irish was almost two hours away from Charming in a rural part of Northern Cali Jax had never been to. It seemed like the IRA had retreated back up their pipeline after the bust. Not a bad idea – it was a good way to regroup and evaluate the options – but it made this meet more uncomfortable than Jax liked. But it had to happen and he probably would have come to Ireland, if it had been necessary. At least things were quiet on the Niners front. Tyler had reported that Marks had not yet reached out from prison and that all his known associates seemed to have gone into hiding. Maybe it was wishful thinking on Jax's part but it looked like Mark's empire was crumbling just as he had predicted. A promising start but Marks could still be dangerous to them if he decided to cooperate with the Cops. This was unlikely and Patterson had promised him immunity but Jax did not trust the peace quite yet. But one step after the other, he had to handle green before he could turn back to black.

He had expected the meet to be in some kind of warehouse or cabin but it was right in the open, in a small clearing in the woods. He had Chibs with him but they were hopelessly outmatched the good dozen of IRA men around them. They had greeted them at the meeting place – a rather non-descript parking lot close to a national park – and had led them here where Connor was waiting. He approached him.

"Jackson, Fillip," he said, shaking hands with both of them. "I am sorry for the trouble but we have to be really careful right now."

"Of course," Jax said. We double-checked everything as well.  "How is the situation?"

Shite of course, Connor replied. The kings are furious. We lost three of our men, a shipment of guns and have the coppers closing in on us. Of course they are livid. They did not want me to meet with you.

Jax raised an eyebrow. "Really why is that? We made sure no one follows us, if that is what you are worried about."

Connor gave him an uncharacteristically hard look. "No, I am more worried that you ratted us out to the cops. You have to admit, the timing is very curious. The Sons are the only player untouched by the bust and you guys left right before the cops ran in. One can’t help but wonder about that."

"If I wanted to betray you to the cops I could have done so for over ten years," Jax said calmly. "But I never did nor did any other member of my club, not even when my own son was kidnapped and used as a pawn over some internal IRA beef. All the time I stuck with you so why should I set up a bust now? Why should I take such a huge risk? Getting tied to guns trade again could have unraveled everything I have worked for. SAMCRO could be RICOed and I could get life in prison. What would I gain by that, Connor?"

"I don’t know, Jackson," Connor admitted. "But I also don’t know how you managed to vanish just in time. Or why you left us out to dry when the bust started."

"We didn’t realize what was happening until it was too late, Con," Chibs said. "And don’t you think we would have taken Bobby with us, if we had been in on the bust? He is dead, in case you don’t know. Shot in the skirmish."

Jax could have lived without the reminder but at least it gave Connor pause. Good thing the Irishmen had not noticed that they had, in fact, tried to take Bobby with them. As hard as it sounded, Bobby’s death was very useful right now. It gave them the credibility they needed. "Aye, I know and I am sorry. So what happened back there? I know we didn’t have a leak, so this only leaves Marks. Did he betray us?"

"Well, there had to be a leak somewhere, Jax mused, and his organization would be my bet. I doubt he betrayed us, I just think someone there got sloppy. In hindsight, it doesn’t surprise me. Marks has a lot of half-bright guys strutting around who might have slipped up. I thought he could keep them in line but I guess he is not as good as Pope was. I should have seen it earlier, Con, I am sorry I got you involved in all that."

"I should have known the niggers could not be trusted," Connor said. "The Mexicans were bad enough but at least they were smart. We have to handle this. Marks cannot be allowed to do any more damage to the cause."

"Sure, what’s the plan?"

"You give us all the information you have on Marks and we will make sure he does not live for a trial."

"Not that I would mind seeing him dead, con" Chibs said. "But I bet he has the same bounty on him that Pope had. Killing him could get you in very hot water and I don’t mean from the law."

Connor scoffed. "Nobody would be stupid enough to take on the IRA to earn some money.  And even if it happens we can always spare one foot solider. Besides, there really is no choice here, the Kings expect a head to roll. Might as well be Marks’s."

"The Kings know what happened?" Jax asked.

"Of course they do," Connor said. "You can’t keep something like this from them. They are furious, of course. They demand I find both the lean and a new distributor for California. I don't think they will just accept that I cut my losses and get back to Ireland. The cause needs the money and we don't have time to seek a new market. Which leaves me in an even deeper mess."

Jax gave him a moment to ponder his problem before speaking. "I think I can help with that. Our chapter in San Bernardino is asking for a piece of the gun trade. I wanted to turn them down since we gave the business to Marks but now he is gone they might be able to pick up the pieces."

"No offense but I didn’t have the best experience with the last partner you recommended."

"It’s not like Marks. SAMDINO is as close to the old pipeline as you will get. It is another charter but it is still part of the Sons of Anarchy. The only thing that will change is the location. It is the only thing I can offer."

Connor pondered this. "I can pitch it to the Kings. If they think it is safe, we might take the deal. If not, we will find another way without the Sons."

"If that’s what you want, it is fine with us," Jax said.  "I just want to make sure there is no beef between us. Otherwise we would run out of new clubhouses."

Connor chuckled. "I will do my best. We will be in touch."

*   *   *   *   *

"This went better than expected," Chibs said when they walked back to their bikes and all IRA members were out of earshot.  "And I like the idea of them handling Marks for us. Good thinking Jackie."

"Thanks, I knew they would want to tie up all loose ends. No idea if they can pull it off, but at least we don't have to worry about it. Do you believe Con that everything is fine between us?"

"Hard to say for sure but I don't think he would have met with us if he didn't want things to work out. Let’s hope he can convince the kings. His good will won’t do us much good, if they want us dead."

"Which is part of the reason I floated the new pipeline idea. The Irish are greedy. They won’t harm us while doing business with SAMDINO and we can still make the cops think we have turn over a new leaf and are out of guns. We could still be hit with a RICO case somewhere down the line but I am sure moving the operation down south will throw off the cops. "

Chibs frowned. "Is SAMDINO really on board? I thought they voted down the gun trade pretty strongly back then."

"True but Hawk has made it clear that he wants a piece of the gun trade," Jax said, smiling at the thought. "It will work out fine."

He had expected Chibs to be happy at the news but instead a look of pure horror spread on the Scot's face. "Jackie, please tell me that you did not send Happy down south to kill Packer!"

"What makes you think that?"

"It just seems too much of coincidence. I wondered what reason you might have to send him away in times like that and now it all makes sense. Jesus Christ, Jackie, you can't just do something like that! What do you think happens when anyone finds out? The other charts will disown SAMCRO! We might lose everything we have ever worked for!"

"Relax, it is not going to happen," Jax said. "Hawk will keep his mouth shut and Happy never talks about this kind of stuff anyway. Besides, once the SAMDINO guys grow used to the cash they won't want anyone to ask too many questions."

"So you are admitting you did it?" Chibs asked, still sounding stunned at the reveal.

Jax raked a hand though his hair. "Yeah, I did it Chibs. I knew the things with the Irish could go south once we take on Marks and knew I might have to offer them a new pipeline. I know we couldn't take the business back and that the Irish would never work with the Mayans. SAMDINO was the perfect fit but Packers was opposing it. There was no way the deal would happen with him around. I hoped that Hawk could convince him but sent Happy down in case it wouldn't work out. I’m sorry it got so far but it was for the good of the club."

"You can’t just decide that! Jesus, Jackie, you can't do something like that without asking the club!"

"I couldn't, Chibs. This had to be top secret, do you really think I could trust someone like Quinn to with this? I am sorry I didn't involve you and really hoped that Hawk could convince Packer but it had to be done. We needed a new partner for the Irish so they would finally let us cut ties. We have this now, you have to see that this is good for us."

"I do, Jackie, but still this is a whole new level even for us. I...I will need some time to wrap my head around it."

"Of course," Jax said. He wasn't too worried. Chibs would come around, he always did. "Come on, let’s go home."

*   *   *   *   *

Juice was already snoring on the couch but Chibs couldn’t find any rest. There was too much left in his head after the hours of hatching plans. He thought they were doing the right thing but he couldn’t shake the feeling that he was a horrible traitor who should be ashamed of himself. No matter how often he told himself it had to be done, the nagging voice in his head wouldn’t be silent. Maybe he should just get it over with.

He pulled out his phone and started typing a text to Jax, asking for a meet outside of Charming first thing in the morning.

*   *   *   *   *

Jax stopped at the meeting place and was surprised to find Juice and Chibs there. He had only expected the Scot and some of the Irish. Was he too early? He didn't think so, he had taken quite some time to get here. Both Juice and Chibs looked very serious and he wondered what the damage was. He got off his bike, removed his helmet and moved over to them. "Hey, didn't know you were coming."

"Chibs asked me tag along," Juice said. "He thought you should hear it from both of us."

"What’s going on?" Jax asked, instantly alarmed. "Have you done anything?"

Juice laughed. "It is not always me who screws up, Jax."

The president immediately focused on Chibs instead. "What's the problem? Did something happen with the Irish?"

"No, we are fine there," Chibs said. This is more of a club problem."

Oh, this couldn’t be good. Probably Quinn was once more up to something. "What is it?"

"Do you remember when I advised you to take a break after we had found out about Gemma?"

"Yeah, of course. Good thing I didn’t, right? Otherwise you would have to handle the Irish all by yourself."

He had expected Chibs to smile at that but the Scot remained as serious as before. "I think you should take this break, Jackie."

Jax frowned. "What are you talking about? I’m fine and things will slow down now anyway."

The Scot sighed. "You are not fine, Jackie. I don’t think you have been fine for a long time. It started with Opie and losing Tara pushed you over the edge. It has made you reckless and unpredictable and the whole club has suffered for it. We lost three members in those last weeks for a war that turned out to be a mistake. I don’t even want to think about how often we were inches away from being killed or arrested and it all happened because we blindly followed your lead. I don’t blame you for not suspecting Gemma earlier – nobody saw that coming – but it can’t go on like that. I can’t back you anymore."

The words hurt a lot and Jax had to gather all his restrained not to yell at Chibs. The asshole had no idea what he had been through and still thought he could judge him like that?  Of course he had taken some risks, of course had not everything gone as planned but he had done what he could. And it had worked out in the end, the club was a bit battered but after some rest they would be stronger than ever. Chibs was just too blind to see it. "Fine, give me your patch back, I will find a new VP."

"That's not what I meant," Chibs said slowly. "The club is close to breaking apart. Quinn and Montez have made it clear that they won’t accept you as president anymore and I think Rat could follow their lead. We can’t risk that. If we lose them, we might as well disband the chapter."

"Then talk to them," Jax replied. "Not my fault they can’t handle a few setbacks."

"Jackie, they think you are out of control and abusing your powers and I can’t say I blame them. I know your heart is at the right place and I think you are trying to do right by the club but it seems like the power has gone to your head. The man I knew just a year back never would have defied the club to attack Marks or have another president killed without a vote. Hell, I don't think you would have ever thought about it. You are worse than Clay was, brother, and it is only a question of time until you make a fatal mistake that gets us killed or tears the club apart. I’m sorry but I can't let it happen anymore. You have to step down and we will find a new president."

"You can’t be serious!" Jax said. He had not seen this coming at all. "Who else should lead the club? You?"

"Probably, unless we find a better candidate."

The president shook his head. "No, I am not stepping down."

"I feared you might say that," Chibs replied. "Then we will call a vote. I am sure I will get a majority. Quinn and Montez are on my side. You can do the math yourself."

Jax could and it did not look good to him. Even if he assumed Rat to be on his side, the vote would be tie. He looked at Juice who would be the tiebreaker in this scenario. "Are you on his side?"

The Puerto Rican did not meet his eye. "I think Chibs is right. You should step down and take some time for you own."

Rage spread in Jax’s veins. "You ungrateful little shit! I gave you the damn patch back! I should have killed you when I had the chance!"

Now Juice faced him and Jax was surprised at his defiant expression. "Yeah, maybe you should have. But seems like this ship has sailed."

"What you think Chibs can protect you? One word about the RICO case and you are done! I don’t even need to be president to do that!"

"If this comes out, we all go down together," Chibs said. "Juice because of what he did and both of us for covering it up."

"I don’t care!" Jax said. "I am nothing without the club! Might as well take you two backstabbing assholes with me!  Then at least I am not the only one who gets kicked out of the club.  And I get the satisfaction of seeing him dead!"

"I don’t think you understand the situation, Jackie," Chibs said and there was chilling finality in his voice that gave Jax pause. "You seem to think you still have an edge on us but this is not true. All I need to do to be made president is to call the vote. I will win in landslide and all the dirt you throw at us will seem like the lies of a sore loser. And this is not the only vote you need to worry about. We hope to settle this civilly but if you try to do anything to seize power again, we will bring in a mayhem vote against you."

For the second time in this conversation, Jax was completely floored. "A mayhem vote? For what?"

"I haven't decided yet. I could pick either you killing Tig or you having Happy kill Packer. Both would be very good reasons."

Jax scoffed. "Empty threats. You have no evidence for Packer and Tig has already been discussed. And Happy would never vote against me."

"Happy will be hit a mayhem vote himself, if we bring Packer to the table," Juice said. "He won't be able to help you. Which means your fate lies in the hands of Rat, Montez and Quinn. Who knows how they might vote?"

Jax did not like this odds at all. Quinn and Montez would definitely vote against him and Rat was a coin flip. They did not know each other very well and Rat wasn't stupid. He would know that Chibs was the new strong man of SAMCRO and probably wouldn't go up against him. This did not look good at all.

No, this had to be a sick joke. They wouldn't really do that, right? But then again what did Juice have to lose? Jax had tried to have him killed, it was understandable that he would want to return the favor. And Chibs did not seem to harbor any good will for him either. He shook his head. "I can't believe you are seriously doing this."

Chibs gave him a look that could have been pity. "I am sorry it has to be this way, Jackie, but you have left me no choice. Trust me, this is for your own good as well."

Fresh rage flooded through Jax's veins. "Bullshit! You can play the saint as long as you like but you are just making a power grab for the gavel! Was this your plan al all along? All this talk about not wanting it was just a ruse to make me feel secure. At least be man enough to admit it."

"If you really think so it just shows that I am right," Chibs said which infuriated Jax even more. He started to move forward only to see Juice pull a gun on him. He froze immediately.

"Sorry, Jax," the Puerto Rican said. "But I can't let you do that."

Chibs seemed supremely unconcerned and Jax could understand why. He was outmatched and outgunned and it seemed like his authority in the club had crumbled away without him even realizing it. He sighed. "What do you want me to do? Resign?"

"Aye but that’s just to save you some pain. I would easily win a vote but we can spare you the embarrassment."

"Very considerate of you," Jax said icily which did not seem to impress Chibs at the least. "So I guess you want me to get back into ranks and back whatever bullshit you come up with?"

"No, Jackie, I don't," Chibs replied. "I know you don't want to hear it but we are doing this for you. I think you should take a break from the club. A couple of months, maybe, or more depending on how much time you need."

Cold dread spread through Jax at the words. "You are banishing me from the club?"

"Not unless it is necessary, but I could do so at any time," the Scot said matter-of-factly. "You need this pause, Jackie, you will either take it or I will force you to. But if it has to be this way, you will be out of the club forever. If you go voluntarily we will just handle it the same way we did with Opie all those yours back. You are still a member but not part of any club activates."

"You can't do that, Chibs! I need the club."

"You need your family more. And there is no choice here, Jackie. You leave. Either temporarily or forever that's up to you. What do you say?"

*   *   *   *   *

Three weeks later, Juice stopped his bike at a discreet meeting place a bit outside of Charming. He was here to meet their newly recovered former sheriff at was quite nervous at the prospect. By now, he remembered quiet clearly that he had shot Roosevelt and at least had to consider the possibility that the sheriff did the same. Not the best circumstances for a clandestine meeting. But he couldn’t just ignore the request. It would cause Chibs to ask a lot of questions Juice was not keen on. But he had made sure that the Scot knew where he was going, just in case. He summoned up all his courage and approached Roosevelt.  "How's it going, sheriff?"

"Better," Roosevelt said. He still looked sick and a bit haggard which wasn’t surprising given the circumstances. He leaned against his car, which Juice noticed was his private pickup. That and the fact that he wore plain clothes made soothed Juice’s worries a bit. At least it didn’t seem like he would be arrested "Seems like you are doing well," the sheriff said, nodding towards the patch on Juice's cut.

"Somebody had to do it," Juice replied.

He hoped this sounded as casual as he had intended it to be. In truth, he had felt like a fraud. Making him VP of a club he had nearly betrayed to a cop was a bitter cosmic joke and he had had to talk himself into accepting it. It helped reminding himself that Jax had done worse things as president and had never had to justify for them. Still, he never would have accepted if Chibs had not pushed him too. He was still surprised by that but he guess there just hadn’t been a lot of other candidates.

"And they don't mind you killing another member?"

Juice just smiled at that. "You can't blackmail me with that anymore, if that is what you want. They know all about it."

"I am just making conversation here, Juice," Roosevelt said and looked so innocent that Juice almost believed him.

"I highly doubt that," the Puerto Rican replied. Here they were again, the old mind games with someone who was neither quite your friend nor truly your enemy. Did this make Roosevelt a frenemy? The word was ridiculous but the concept fit to a T. "So why don't we cut through the bullshit and come to the point. Why did you want to see me?"

"Maybe I just want to know what you guys are up to these days."

"Then ask Patterson."

"Funny you should say that. I just saw her this day. Did you know that August Marks was murdered in person two days ago? IRA seems to claim the kill."

"I heard the rumors," Juice said, not even bothering to deny. Roosevelt would not believe him anyway. The IRA had made good of their promise to handle Marks once and for all and was now snuggling up with SAMDINO. Juice did not like that admit it after overthrowing the guy but these were the moments where Jax's true brilliance shone through. He had not only gotten the IRA of their ass, he had also used them to get rid of their biggest risk factor. "Bad luck for Patterson. Seems like her big case is falling apart."

"Yeah but she still has the truth about Tara's murder to keep her happy. Though we did not get Gemma in time either. I guess Jax found her sooner."

"I don't think Jax could do something like this," Juice said. "He cried a lot on her funeral."

"Still surprised he even bothered after what she had done."

"She was his mother, apparently this means something for him. Can't say I can relate, my mother and I don't get along. Though he did make sure she is buried far away from Tara."

Roosevelt was silent for a moment. "I should be back on the job in a few weeks. Any advice on what I can expect from the club once I am back in the saddle? More clubhouses blowing up?"

"No, we handled this problem. You are in luck because we are completely law-abiding citizens now, Sherriff and rebuilding Diosa as we speak. Be sure to check it out, we will give you one on the house."

"I can hardly wait," Roosevelt. "So no more guns, right?"

"I don't know what you are talking about," Juice said, unable to keep the grin of his face. "We never sold any guns."

"Of course not." Roosevelt paused for a second and Juice felt a sudden sense of foreboding. Instinctively, his right hand crept a bit closer to the gun in his waistband. This might be paranoid and maybe even stupid but he had tried to kill Roosevelt and was suddenly pretty sure that the sheriff knew this. As if hearing his thought, Roosevelt continued. "You know," the Sheriff said. "We never did find out who shot me."

"I thought it was Gemma," Juice said, acting deliberately dumb. To be honest, he was a bit surprised that the sheriff had survived that. He might want to work on his aim.

"Gemma couldn't shoot me in the back while she was in front of me. It had to be someone else who was in the house."

"Maybe Unser or Tig, they would have done anything for her. But shouldn’t you have noticed that someone else was there? Maybe even seen him?"

Roosevelt watched him very carefully. "Yeah, maybe I should have."

Juice was now more than ever convinced that they were playing some kind of game here. Maybe Roosevelt wanted him to admit something but he wasn't stupid enough to fall for that. "So is the investigation still ongoing? Do you have a suspect?"

"Not yet and maybe this is for the best."

Okay, this was not the turn of events Juice had expected. "Why? Don’t you want revenge?"

"I would want justice, Juice. There is a difference."

"Not all the time."

Roosevelt smiled. "Yeah maybe. But justice isn’t as simple as vengeance. There are more things to consider. Sometimes one has to see the bigger picture. Think about what is best for Charming. I think it is better to let this one slide. I should make a complete recovery so there is no lasting damage. Besides, my vague ideas who could have shot me wouldn’t do much in court. I think Charming needs a sheriff who works with all relevant parties in town and tires to find the best compromise rather than one who blindly tries to get vengeance."

If Juice understood him correctly, Roosevelt knew it had been him but didn’t want another conflict with the club. Which sounded good but he didn’t quite trust the peace. There was too much bad blood on his side to blindly believe him. He was sure that Roosevelt had had a cold hard look at the facts and realized that a guess on who could have been behind him wouldn’t hold up in court without other evidence and didn’t have the guts to just kill Juice. In the end, it didn’t make a difference. Chibs would want him to accept the offer even if it was just for show. And if Roosevelt was serious, a good working relationship with the sheriff could be a boon for the club. If not, well Juice would keep an eye on him and if push came to shove, he would make sure Roosevelt wouldn’t survive the next try. He extended his hand.  "Sounds good, sheriff. Let me know what I can do."

Roosevelt hesitated a moment and then shook his hand.

*   *   *   *   *

A graveyard wasn’t the most uplifting sight but Jax was glad to see it all the same. He had spent the last weeks buried at home, only seeing the boys and Wendy on a regular basis. Not that there were many people that wanted to visit him. With the exception of Happy, the club avoided him like the plague and it wasn’t like he had many friends in Charming outside of it. Maybe Jax was projecting but it seemed like everyone in Charming knew what had happened to him, as if the news of his banishment had been written into the sky. Not that Chibs was honest enough to call it a banishment. He just called it “taking some time off”. Jax was unsure if the Scot was taunting him or if he really believed this bullshit. As if Jax could just let him strip the president patch from him, patiently wait until the Scot considered him fit for duty and then return to the fold as if nothing has happened. If Chibs really thought that Jax could do that he didn’t know him at all.

New rage welled up at the thought. This arrogant, self-righteous asshole! Being booted out of the club was hard enough and the fact that things had turned out well made this even harder to bear. The IRA had taken care of Marks and was now getting chummy with SAMDINO just as Jax had predicted. Not that it mattered to Chibs. The Scot had made his mind up about him being out of control and was blind to anything that did not fit this theory. In the first days since his banishment Jax had raked his brain for a way to get back at the Scot but had given up eventually. Not because he had not found anything but because he had realized that everything he could do would do considerable damage to the club. And he could not deny that it felt good to be close to the boys again. So had sat tight and done nothing. Seeing the president patch on Chibs’s chest still hurt and Juice wearing the VP patch had to be some kind of joke but there was nothing he could do about that, as much as part of him might want to.

He pushed the thoughts aside. It did not matter now, it was done and he had made up his mind. The decision had not come easy but now that he was here, he was sure he was doing the right thing. He crouched down at Tara’s grave and started talking. "I am so sorry, babe. I should have seen it coming but I never thought my mom could do something like that. And I am sorry I didn’t kill her for that, Juice got her before I could."

Deep down, Jax was glad he hadn’t had a chance to confront his mother. He would have killed her, he was sure of that but it would have been excruciatingly painful. Maybe it was blessing Juice had done it for him, he had enough on his plate already. "Chibs and Juice betrayed me. They think I am losing it. They made me give up the gavel and wanted me to take a break until I feel better. I had no choice but to accept. I didn’t want to cause any more trouble. And to be honest babe, I think they were right about something. It was good to spend more time with the boys, I barely saw them those last weeks. Wendy is helping me with them. Quite ironic, right? Never thought I would let her near Abel ever again."

Jax toyed with his wedding ring for a moment. Now came the hard part. "I am going to leave the club babe. Maybe even Charming, if I find a good place to stay. I can’t make Chibs take me back and I am not going to beg. I got SAMCRO out of guns just as I planned, so I might as well leave on my own terms. Sorry, for not getting out sooner but you know how hard this decision was for me. I love you, Tara and I wish things hadn't played out the way they did. I hope you can forgive me."

He waited for a moment, then straightened up. Jax was pleasantly surprised that he had not cried – he had been sure that he would. One down, one to go. It took a few steps and couched down before Opie's headstone. "Hey, Ope. I guessed you heard that. You might think I should fight for my place in the club but this doesn't matter now. The club I knew is dead. It died piece by piece with every brother we lost. The club I knew had you and Bobby and Half-Sack and a Juice who was too stupid for everything but always laughing. It is gone now and I think I helped kill it. I am sorry for that too. I wish we had gotten out together, Opie. Either alive or in death with you as my VP. Now all I can do is promise that I will never forget you."

This time he had cried even if Jax couldn’t say when it had started. He ran his hand over the headstone one more time, then straightened up. He pulled the “SONS” rings from his finger, carefully placed them on the top of the headstone and walked away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here we are guys, thanks for reading. I didn’t like the idea of Jax killing himself in the original ending. It came pretty out of nowhere and did not fit his character imo. At the same, time I didn’t want to give him a too happy ending, since this wouldn’t fit the show. I think being forced out of the club is a good compromise.
> 
> Anyways, this took much longer to finish than expected and I need a break now but I am glad I pulled through. I hope you liked it and I will see you guys next time.


End file.
